After row over his remark on Narasimha Rao, Mani Shankar clarifies he didn’t write it but spoke about it

New Delhi [India], August 24 : Giving clarification on his reported remarks on former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Thursday said that what he said on Wednesday is not in his autobiography, but it is something that he wrote years ago in a different book.
This comes after Aiyar on Wednesday alleged that former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao had "communal" tendencies and labelled him as the country's first BJP PM. In his autobiography, "Memoirs of a Maverick: The First Fifty Years (1941–1991)," released on Monday, the former diplomat also advocated renewal of dialogue with Pakistan. He expressed the view that while there is the resolve to carry out surgical strikes against Pakistan, there is a lack of willingness to engage in diplomatic talks with the country.
"I haven't written it, I said it yesterday...I wrote that in a different book of mine. What I said yesterday that he wasn't ours but BJP's first Prime Minister is something that I wrote years ago. I stand by what I said," Aiyar said while talking to the reporters.
Speaking about the beginning of dialogues with Pakistan, if the INDIA bloc comes to power in 2024, the Congress leader said that he doesn't think he will become the External Affairs Minister.
"I don't know because I don't think that I will become the External Affairs Minister...Ask the INDIA alliance PM about it...I have always been in its favour (of dialogue)...Rahul Gandhi meets me very rarely," he said.
Meanwhile, hitting out at the Congress party over the statement of Mani Shankar Aiyar, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Thursday said that the Congress leader has presented the soul of INDIA bloc in a written format.
"...2024 elections are approaching and 'mukut mani' (Mani Shankar Aiyar) has shone once again. This time he not only spoke but also wrote a book. He spoke especially on three Ps - Parivaarvaad, Pakshapaat and Pakistan," he said.
"The Soul of INDIA bloc has been presented by Mani Shankar Aiyar in a written format...PV Narasimha Rao was the PM from Congress and the kind of words that have been used for him clearly show that the Gandhi family's spokesperson can't tolerate someone other than somebody from the Gandhi family becoming the PM, even if the person is from the Congress party. Through Mani Shankar Aiyar it has been said that PV Narasimha Rao was BJP's and not Congress," Patra said at a press conference.
He also said that whatever Mani Shankar Iyer writes, speaks, the pen and the tongue may be his but the ideas and objectives are of the Gandhi family.