Mani Shankar Aiyar denies casteist remark against PM Modi, says criticism targeted ‘character’

Former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has rejected allegations that he made casteist remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his controversial “neech” remark referred to the prime minister’s character and not his caste.

Speaking at an event at Kanodia College in Jaipur , Aiyar said his comments had been misinterpreted and projected as a caste-based insult. “I never called him a person of ‘neecha jaat’ (low caste)” , he said, adding that he had instead described Modi as a “low kind of person” referring to his character .

The former diplomat-turned-politician claimed the statement was presented in a way that suggested he was referring to Modi’s caste. According to Aiyar, the prime minister portrayed the remark as casteist because Aiyar himself is a Brahmin .

Aiyar also addressed the controversy surrounding an alleged comment that a “tea seller cannot become the prime minister” , saying he had never made such a statement. He said his criticism had instead focused on what he described as Modi’s lack of historical knowledge.

According to Aiyar, he had questioned how a person who, in his view, did not know certain historical facts could occupy the position once held by India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. He said he had cited examples such as the fact that Alexander the Great never reached Pataliputra and that while Nalanda lies in India, Taxila is now in Pakistan.

He said he had jokingly added that if Modi lost the election, arrangements could be made for him to distribute tea. “ Who called him a tea seller? Modi himself said he was a tea seller ,” Aiyar remarked.

He also questioned Modi’s claim that he sold tea at a railway platform in his hometown Vadnagar, alleging that the town did not have a railway platform until 1973 . According to Aiyar, such claims and what he described as “misleading narratives behind Modi’s rise” helped shape the prime minister’s political journey.

Responding to criticism from BJP leaders who described him as a “child of Macaulay for speaking English” , Aiyar questioned the use of language as a political label. “If I am Macaulay’s child because I speak English, does PM Modi know Tamil? ” he asked.

Aiyar also alleged that remarks targeting Muslims have deepened communal polarisation in the country, warning that attempts to portray India as a Hindu nation could undermine its diverse and pluralistic character.