Two months after suspension, Mani Shankar Aiyar seen at Congress office

On December 7, the Congress had suspended senior leader Mani Shankar Aiyar from the primary membership of the party.

NEW DELHI: Suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar was seen at the party headquarters, more than two and a half months after he was suspended from the party.

On December 7, last year, the Congress had suspended senior leader Mani Shankar Aiyar from the primary membership of the party and issued him a show-cause notice over his purported casteist slur against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The announcement had come after Congress president Rahul Gandhi had asked Aiyar to apologise.

Aiyar, a former Union Minister, had sought to clarify his remarks. Pointing to the fact that Hindi is not his mother tongue, Aiyar had said, "I meant 'low level' when I said 'neech'. I think in English when I speak in Hindi, as Hindi is not my mother tongue. So if it has some other meaning, then I apologise."

A day after Aiyar was seen at the All India Congress Committee office in Delhi, cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu hit out at suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Saturday.

Aiyar should not forget his boundaries, said Sidhu, who had parted ways with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to join the Congress ahead of last assembly elections in Punjab

"Shatranj ki bisaat bichhi ho aur pyaada apni aukaat bhool jaaye toh kuchla jaat hai. Ye hamare General Rahul Ji ke upar hai, wo jo faisla karenge wo hamara faisla hai (Mani Shankar Aiyar should not forget his boundaries. Now it is upto the party president Rahul Gandhi. Whatever he decides, will be our decision)," said Sidhu.