Veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has revealed that former President of the Palestinian National Authority Yasser Arafat had repeatedly warned Rajiv Gandhi about an impending threat to his life during the 1991 Lok Sabha election campaign but he was not taken seriously.

In an exclusive interview with the Press Trust of India (PTI) about his forthcoming book 'A Maverick in Politics', the third volume in his series of political memoirs, published by Juggernaut Books, Mani Shankar Aiyar said that Rajiv Gandhi expected the state, and the then Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, to provide him protection from any life-threatening situation.

The book covers Mani Shankar Aiyar’s life between 1991 and 2004.

Recounting a moment from 1992, Aiyar shared how he went to meet Sonia Gandhi just two days before Christmas to inform her that both houses of Parliament had passed the 73rd and 74th amendments. These amendments aimed to strengthen India's grassroots democracy by institutionalising Panchayati Raj and urban local bodies, the groundwork for which was done during Rajiv Gandhi's tenure as Prime Minister.

As he was leaving, Aiyar wished Sonia Gandhi a Merry Christmas, to which she replied, "I am not a Christian." Aiyar says he was "completely taken aback" by that response.

Recounting another incident from 1992, during the days leading up to the demolition of the Babri Masjid, Aiyar said he was summoned by the then Prime Minister, PV Narasimha Rao, in the midst of the 'Ram Rahim Yatra' that he was leading in response to senior BJP leader LK Advani's 'Rath Yatra.'

According to Aiyar, Rao told him that while he did not disapprove of the Yatra, he did not agree with Aiyar's definition of secularism, adding, "You don’t seem to realise that this is a Hindu country."

Aiyar said he was astonished by Rao’s statement and responded by saying that, according to the Constitution, India is a secular country.

Mani Shankar Aiyar says, Pranab Mukherjee should have been given the reins of the UPA-II government and Manmohan Singh elevated to the office of the President. Aiyar states in the book that if this step had been taken, the UPA would not have gone into a "paralysis of governance".

Speaking about his current position in the Congress, Aiyar said he is "completely isolated in the party", and is now one among "9,000 PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) members....after having been a personal favourite of Rajiv Gandhi."

Aiyar credited the patronage of the late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and thereafter the former Congress President Sonia Gandhi for enabling him to serve as a Lok Sabha MP twice, and subsequently as a Rajya Sabha MP.

"So the irony of my life is that my political career was made by the Gandhis and unmade by the Gandhis", he said.

Speaking about what the Congress should do in the current political climate, Aiyar said that the party should "stoop to conquer".

"In these circumstances, I think the Congress, I have said this before, should stoop to conquer. And how should it stoop to conquer? By accepting to be part of an anti-BJP alliance, which becomes an anti-BJP coalition government. But for that, in my opinion, there are two conditions necessary.

"One is that the Congress should not aspire to the leadership of the alliance, at least while we are in opposition. And secondly, it should give equal respect to everyone in the opposition block and not allow controversies to develop with them over local issues."

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