Mani Shankar Aiyar was suspended by the party two years ago after he called PM Modi a "Neech aadmi".
After initially going soft on Mani Shankar Aiyar, the Congress party today condemned the senior leader's article where he justified the "Neech" slur he had used for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding that disciplinary action will be taken against him.
The opinion piece, published in the Rising Kashmir and reproduced by The Print, is an attempt by Mr Aiyar to stay relevant in news, said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. "It was wrong to use these words. Hatred, violence and abuse are the modus operandi of Modi and his regime...We condemn the remarks of Mani Shankar Aiyar for using these words and not adhering the political ideology," he said.
Earlier in the day, Congress leader Jaiveer Shergill was seen trying to justify Mr Aiyar's remarks. Asked whether Mr Aiyar had embarrassed the party yet again, Mr Shergill said: "Yes, it is embarrassing that today we have a PM who has degraded the post of PM, it is embarrassing when he called Rahul Gandhi hybrid half calf, it is embarrassing he called someone 50 crore ki girlfriend, called Rajiv Gandhi bhrashtachari number 1."
PM Modi, at a rally in Uttar Pradesh, said: "These mahamilavati' people SP, BSP and the Congress, all are abusing me. Not a single day has passed when they have not abused me. This is their condition after the sixth phase of the election. I consider their abuses as a gift. I will not reply to them, you (public) will reply by voting for the BJP".
Mr Aiyar was also slammed by the BJP as "irrepressible" and said that the 78-year-old was "upset that Sam Pitroda was getting all the attention" over his controversial remarks on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. "Mani Shankar Aiyar pulls Pitroda's foot out of his mouth and puts it in his...," tweeted Amit Malviya, the head of the BJP's IT cell.
Mr Aiyar was suspended by the party two years ago after he called PM Modi a "Neech aadmi," in the middle of the Gujarat assembly election in 2017. His remarks were even criticised by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. His suspension was revoked months later, in August 2018 after recommendation by the party's disciplinary committee.
In his article, Mr Aiyar said that PM Modi "needs to be warned that he is guilty of anti-national activity in trying to ride on the sacrifices of our army and CRPF martyrs in a dirty election campaign".
"But then, why bother? Modi will, in any case, be ousted by the people of India on 23 May. That would be a fitting end to the most foul-mouthed prime minister this country has seen or is likely to see. Remember how I described him on 7 December 2017? Was I not prophetic," Mr Aiyar wrote.