Jaipur, March 15 Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has dismissed the allegation that he made casteist remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asserting that his comments were directed at the prime minister's "character" and not his caste.
The former bureaucrat-turned politician also said he is called the "child of Macaulay" for speaking English and questioned whether Modi knows Tamil.
Reacting to Aiyar's remarks, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers held a protest in Jaipur on Sunday and burnt his effigy.
Aiyar attended a programme here on Saturday evening. Speaking on the controversy surrounding his alleged past remarks, the former Union minister said he never described Modi as someone hailing from a "low caste".
"I never called him a person of 'neecha jaat' (low caste). I said he was a low kind of person, referring to his character. That is completely different," he said.
Aiyar said his remarks were misinterpreted and projected in a way that suggested that he was referring to Modi's caste. He claimed that the prime minister portrayed the comments as a caste-based insult because Aiyar is a Brahmin.
Referring to another controversy over his alleged remarks that a "tea seller cannot become the prime minister", Aiyar said he had never made such a statement and that the claim attributed to him was incorrect.
"I never said that because he is a tea seller, he cannot become the prime minister," Aiyar said, adding that his criticism was instead directed at what he described as Modi's "lack of historical knowledge".
According to Aiyar, he had questioned how a person who, in his view, was not aware of certain historical facts, could occupy the post that was once held by Jawaharlal Nehru.
He said he had referred to historical points, such as the fact that Alexander never reached Pataliputra and that while Nalanda is in India, Taxila is now in Pakistan.
Aiyar said after making those remarks, he had jokingly added that if Modi wanted to distribute tea after losing the election, arrangements could be made.
"Who called him a tea seller? Modi himself said he was a tea seller," Aiyar said.
He also raised doubts about Modi's assertion that he sold tea at a railway platform in his hometown of Vadnagar in Gujarat, claiming that the town did not have a railway platform until 1973.
Aiyar alleged that such claims and "misleading narratives" played a role in Modi's rise to the top post.
He also alleged that certain remarks made about Muslims have contributed to communal polarisation in the country.
Reacting to Aiyar's comments, BJP leaders and workers held a protest at the Gandhi circle here on Sunday and raised slogans against the former Union minister and the Congress party.
BJP's Rajasthan general secretary Shravan Singh Bagri said using derogatory language against the prime minister amounts to insulting the country and will not be tolerated.
"Aiyar has insulted the prime minister and the people of the country will never accept it. While India's stature is rising globally under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, leaders like Aiyar are indulging in petty politics," he said.
Bagri alleged that such remarks hurt the dignity of the Prime Minister's Office and insult the countrymen. Another BJP general secretary, Bhupendra Saini, also echoed the sentiment and said insulting the prime minister goes against democratic values.
He demanded that Aiyar immediately apologise for his remarks and asked the Congress to clarify its stand on the issue.
The BJP leaders warned that if such statements from Congress leaders keep coming, party workers would stage similar protests across the state.
Several BJP leaders, including former MP Ramcharan Bohra, were present during the protest.