Rahul Gandhi disapproves of Mani Shankar Aiyar's 'chaiwala' jibe at Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi disapproved of Mani Shankar Aiyar's "chaiwala" remark about Narendra Modi, urging party spokespersons to desist from personal attacks.

The issue of Aiyar's comment came up for discussion at a meeting of spokespersons on Thursday. A participant lamented that the "chaiwala" comment had handed a needless weapon to the arch rival.

Rahul said partymen should not make personal attacks and instead focus on exposing the lies spoken by rivals.

The brief reaction from Rahul, without referring to Aiyar or Modi, was understood by the gathering as disapproval of Aiyar's caustic remark that has since been lapped up by the Gujarat chief minister to position himself as a subaltern.

Aiyar last month said Modi would never become prime minister but he was welcome to serve tea to Congressmen, a reference to the Gujarat chief minister's beginning as a tea vendor.

Modi latched on to the barb and attacked Congress for not being able to "tolerate a person from backward caste who had humble beginnings". The BJP has since started "chai pe charcha" in distant parts of the country to drive home the message about Modi being a subaltern.

The saffron bid to turn Aiyar's attack into a campaign asset has rankled Congressmen, with many believing that it was a self-goal.

The issue promptly came up for discussion at the meeting of spokespersons called by Rahul. A participant singled out the "chaiwala" barb to say that such comments were counter-productive, finding support from the party vice-president who said the attacks should not be personal.

Rahul advised partymen to be aggressive and underlined that they should talk about the achievements of the Centre which were numerous.

There was a view that Gujarat's claim of development should be exposed because facts belie the propaganda.