New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) The Janata Dal (United) on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the Congress following controversial remarks by its senior leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, claiming that the party was facing internal turmoil.

Reacting to Aiyar’s recent statements, JD(U) National Spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad said, “What Mani Shankar Aiyar will do is his individual choice. However, everything is not running smoothly within the Congress, which has become clear after Mani Shankar Aiyar’s recent statements.”

In another statement, Prasad added, “He has said many things, but instead of commenting on each, we would like to say that Rahul Gandhi should, in some way, make efforts to save the Congress through democratic means. He has not been able to gain the trust of senior Congress leaders. The party has seen a continuous outflow of prominent leaders… This trend is not stopping…”

Meanwhile, the BJP also weighed in on the controversy. Reacting to Aiyar’s remarks targeting Congress leaders, BJP MLA Vikram Randhawa said, “Better late than never,” adding that Aiyar had previously made controversial remarks about a “tea seller.” “Today, they are calling the Congress leader a puppet, but the real puppet is their own leader; he has just taken someone else’s name instead of the actual one. Mani Shankar has finally woken up,” he told IANS.

The political reactions came after veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar publicly criticised several of his own party colleagues on Monday. He reportedly went on a rant over a series of issues, including the upcoming elections in Kerala, and lashed out at senior leaders.

Without mincing words, Aiyar described Congress MP Shashi Tharoor as an “unprincipled careerist”, labelled party General Secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal a “rowdy”, and referred to Congress leader Pawan Khera as “a tattu”.

The remarks have triggered sharp political reactions, with Opposition parties accusing the Congress of internal disarray.

–IANS

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