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The old Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has taken another swing at the pot in his own party firing broadside at the senior members of his party in a separate interview with NDTV on February 16, 2026. Aiyar, alleged that Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor had ambitions to become the next Foreign Minister, a term he calls an unprincipled careerist and an anti-Pakistan. He asserted that Tharoor, aggrieved that the Congress did not make him a Foreign Minister, is now setting his eyes on the position under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Aiyar said that he had never seen a more corrupt careerist than Shashi Tharoor who is now attempting to be the foreign minister of Modi after Congress failed to make him the foreign minister.

Aiyar didn't stop there. He dismissed Pawan Khera, the spokesperson of the Congress as a puppet, a tattu (pony) and that Khera is not a party spokesman, but only a puppet. It is two years since he (Khera) has been accusing me. And Aiyar dared, saying: "Expel me, Congress party, expel me, and Khera must make a move and may even say, to me: I will gladly go out and kick him in the backside. This is subsequent to Khera disconnecting the party to the recent support of Aiyar of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan saying that Aiyar has no existing relationship with Congress.

Aiyar also attacked other leaders by dubbing the Congress General Secretary KC Venugipal a rowdy and forecasted defeat of the party in Kerala because of the internal divisions. He was doubtful of the electability of a divided Congress, which made him ask, Who will vote a party whose leaders are in each other's throats?

The remarks have humiliated the Congress before important elections with the party coming out strongly to disown the views of Aiyar. Khera replied: Mani Shankar Aiyar has nothing to do with the Congress in several years, and he is talking as an individual. Tharoor has not outright responded, though insiders to him denied the claims as being groundless and attention seeking.

Aiyar has a record of making controversial comments that usually place the party in the defensive i.e. internal discipline is questionable. This most recent outburst highlights the growing levels of faction in the Grand Old Party as the Congress struggles with the problem of unity.