Suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar slams BJP for supporting 'Hindutva'

Former Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, who was suspended by the Congress for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'neech' before Gujarat elections 2017, took a jib at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) yet again on Monday.

Slamming the Narendra Modi-led BJP for supporting Hindutva, Aiyar said, "Present situation in India is an aberration. In 1923, a man called VD Savarkar invented a word which doesn't exist in any religious text, 'Hindutva'. So, first proponent of the two-nation theory was ideological guru of those who are currently in power in India," the news agency ANI reported.

Present situation in India is an aberration, In 1923 a man called VD Savarkar invented a word which doesn't exist in any religious text, 'Hindutva'. So first proponent of the two nation theory was ideological guru of those who are currently in power in India: MA Aiyar in Lahore pic.twitter.com/2C0ovEPRBI

— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2018

"I referred to Jinnah as the Quaid e Azam & the hysterical Indian TV anchors are demanding to know how an Indian can go to Pakistan and say this. I know many Pakistanis who called MK Gandhi as Mahatma Gandhi, does that make them unpatriotic Pakistanis," he asked while addressing an event in Pakistan on Monday.

Read | Rahul Gandhi on bullock cart holds protest against rising fuel prices in Karnataka

I referred to Jinnah as the Quaid e Azam & the hysterical Indian TV anchors are demanding to know how an Indian can go to Pakistan and say this. I know many Pakistanis who called MK Gandhi as Mahatma Gandhi, does that make them unpatriotic Pakistanis?: M S Aiyar in Lahore pic.twitter.com/gxqLUcEHLM

— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2018

However, this is not the first time that Aiyar gave birth to such controversies.

Last week, Aiyar was flayed by the BJP after he lauded Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah amidst the growing clamour over a portrait of Jinnah hanging on the wall of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

In the past, he said that he received more hatred in India than love in Pakistan.

Read | Aligarh Muslim University-Jinnah violence: What’s in a name?

Earlier, at the height of Indo-Pak tensions, he said that India is still caught in a 'partially 1947 situation' while there is 'change of mindset' in the neighbouring country.

The Congress, however, is staying away from Aiyar's recent comments as they are leaving no stone unturned to retain power in poll-bound Karnataka. The Congress and BJP are all set to be back in the battlefield as the political ardor is gaining pace in the state ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections 2018.