Mani Shankar Aiyar Sparks Controversy: ‘Rajiv Gandhi Failed at Cambridge & Imperial College, Became PM’

Mani Shankar Aiyar Sparks Controversy: It has sent shockwaves not just through political circles, but ‘Mani Shankar Aiyar has made a sensationally shocking statement' about Rajiv Gandhi-the former Prime Minister and the academics, The crux of the matter being drawn from a recent interview, Aiyar has claimed as alleged that Rajiv failed at Cambridge University followed by Imperial College London. The interviewer, who was apparently caught off guard, laughed out loud at the impossible claim, but it did not bother Aiyar.

"Yes, and in fact, it's very difficult to fail in Cambridge, but he anyhow failed again. Then, he went to Imperial College in London, but he failed there as well," Aiyar quoted, adding "How can such a person who failed twice become the Prime Minister of the country?"

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Truth or Political Rhetoric?

Rajiv Gandhi applied to Cambridge's Trinity College in 1962 and pursued engineering without finishing the course. Then he went on to Imperial College London but also dropped out without a diploma. There is an instance of people asserting that he lacked the required academic excellence, while others say that he lost interest in the field of engineering and went completely on a different track of pursuing his passion in aviation.

Aiyar's History of Controversy

Aiyar's legacy speaks about his caustic comments, his stormy relationship with the Congress leadership, and all that nonsense. This isn't the first time he has unleashed stormy controversy. His previous senatorial comments called Narendra Modi a "chaiwala," which later turned out into "very bad, immoral types of people." The recent was yet again to his spice into the dynastic politics in Congress pertaining to whom the merit is in leadership.

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Political Fallout

BJP leaders wasted no time in taking the bait that was dangled by Aiyar speaking about the legacy of the Gandhi family and questioned meritocracy inside Congress.

Congress, on the other hand has chosen to be largely silent, seemingly to evade any further controversy.

Social media was bombarded with memes as users took to debating whether educational qualifications should stand as a caveat to political leadership.

Does Education Matter in Politics?

Many argue that leadership is not about degrees but about vision and experience. Of course, not-to-definition appropriate examples, including Modi, Lincoln, and Churchill, never possessed prestige-associated, top-shelve academic credentials, but led with strategic brilliance. But in a nation where millions are still required to struggle for degrees to find jobs, this statement of Aiyar again ignited the controversy related to privilege, leadership, and competence in Indian politics.

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