Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has expressed strong objection to Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s ‘Stop Operation Sindoor’ comment, terming his statement as “unfortunate” and demanding an apology from him. Speaking to reporters, Chief Minister Yadav said, “This is the character of the Congress.”
Why should pro-Pakistan sentiments be expressed again and again? The stand of the Prime Minister and the BJP is clear: We have taken revenge of our citizens against those who are malicious towards our country through Operation Sindoor… So such a statement is unfortunate; Mani Shankar Iyer should apologize.
The incident comes after a video of senior Congress leader and former minister Mani Shankar Aiyar surfaced in which he advised the current BJP government to hold talks with Pakistan to end tensions following Operation Sindoor, the strategic military action launched by India in May 2025 following a major terror attack in Pahalgam.
Aiyar advocated for “unimpeded and unhindered” dialogue with Islamabad, warning that any “lunatic” could wreak havoc by adopting a tough stance against its nuclear-armed neighbour.
Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7, 2025 as a joint action by the three armies, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK, following the killing of 26 people in Pahalgam. However, the government says the operation is “still ongoing”. BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala shared the clip on his Facebook handle and alleged that the Congress party always “gives a clean chit to Pakistan” and “advocates no action against Pakistan for terrorism”.
Apart from this, BJP leaders also took strong objection to Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s remarks in which he described “Hindutva as a distorted Hindu religion”. He described Aiyar as a “British agent” and a person with a “colonial mentality” and said that the entire Congress party has an “anti-Hindu” mentality.
BJP leader Narayanan Tirupati told ANI “Mani Shankar Aiyar is a British agent. His thinking is colonial. Hindutva is inclusive. Hinduism is a lifestyle, not a religion. I advise him to read the words said by Swami Vivekananda and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat about Hinduism and Hindutva. The thinking of Congress people is also colonial,” BJP leader Narayanan Tirupati told ANI.
Earlier, while addressing ‘The Debate 2026’ organized by the Calcutta Debating Society, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had described “Hindutva as deranged Hinduism”.
“Hindutva is a perversion of Hinduism. It forces 80% Hindus to bow before 14% Muslims. Hindutva means a BJP leader slapping a blind, hungry tribal girl because she attended a Christmas feast in a church. Hindutva means raiding shopping malls and breaking Christmas decorations,” Iyer said.
Talking about Savarkar’s ideology, he further said, “Savarkar described Buddhism as an existential threat to all Hindus. He called it the ultimate denial of Hindutva, which intoxicates universalism and non-violence. He said it is destructive to national power and even the survival of the Hindu race.”