<p>Jaipur: Former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has rejected allegations that he made casteist remarks against Prime Minister<a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/search?q=PM%20Modi"> Narendra Modi</a>, asserting that his comments were directed at the prime minister's "character" and not his caste.</p>.<p>The bureaucrat-turned-politician also said that he is called the "child of Macaulay" for speaking English, and questioned whether PM Modi knows Tamil.</p>.<p>Speaking on the controversy surrounding his alleged past remarks, Aiyar said he never described PM Modi as belonging to a "low caste".</p>.MK Stalin best-suited to be convenor of INDIA bloc: Mani Shankar Aiyar.<p>"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 at a programme in Jaipur on Saturday evening.</p>.<p>Aiyar said his remarks had been misinterpreted and projected in a way that suggested he was referring to his caste. He claimed that the prime minister portrayed the comment as a caste-based insult because Aiyar is a Brahmin.</p>.<p>The former minister also referred to the controversy over his alleged remark 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.</p>.<p>"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".</p>.<p>According to Aiyar, he had questioned how a person who, in his view, did not know certain historical facts could be in the role (of prime minister) that Jawaharlal Nehru had.</p>.<p>He said that 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.</p>.<p>Aiyar said that after making those remarks, he had jokingly added that if Modi wanted to distribute tea after losing the election, arrangements could be made.</p>.PM Modi slams TMC over opposing SIR in West Bengal, says it backs illegal migrant vote bank.<p>"Who called him a tea seller? Modi himself said he was a tea seller," Aiyar said.</p>.<p>He also raised doubts about Modi's assertion that he sold tea at a railway platform in his hometown Vadnagar, claiming that the town did not have a railway platform until 1973.</p>.<p>Aiyar alleged that such claims and what he described as "misleading narratives" played a role in Modi's rise to the post of prime minister.</p>.<p>He alleged that remarks made about Muslims have contributed to communal polarisation in the country. </p>
<p>Jaipur: Former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has rejected allegations that he made casteist remarks against Prime Minister<a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/search?q=PM%20Modi"> Narendra Modi</a>, asserting that his comments were directed at the prime minister's "character" and not his caste.</p>.<p>The bureaucrat-turned-politician also said that he is called the "child of Macaulay" for speaking English, and questioned whether PM Modi knows Tamil.</p>.<p>Speaking on the controversy surrounding his alleged past remarks, Aiyar said he never described PM Modi as belonging to a "low caste".</p>.MK Stalin best-suited to be convenor of INDIA bloc: Mani Shankar Aiyar.<p>"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 at a programme in Jaipur on Saturday evening.</p>.<p>Aiyar said his remarks had been misinterpreted and projected in a way that suggested he was referring to his caste. He claimed that the prime minister portrayed the comment as a caste-based insult because Aiyar is a Brahmin.</p>.<p>The former minister also referred to the controversy over his alleged remark 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.</p>.<p>"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".</p>.<p>According to Aiyar, he had questioned how a person who, in his view, did not know certain historical facts could be in the role (of prime minister) that Jawaharlal Nehru had.</p>.<p>He said that 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.</p>.<p>Aiyar said that after making those remarks, he had jokingly added that if Modi wanted to distribute tea after losing the election, arrangements could be made.</p>.PM Modi slams TMC over opposing SIR in West Bengal, says it backs illegal migrant vote bank.<p>"Who called him a tea seller? Modi himself said he was a tea seller," Aiyar said.</p>.<p>He also raised doubts about Modi's assertion that he sold tea at a railway platform in his hometown Vadnagar, claiming that the town did not have a railway platform until 1973.</p>.<p>Aiyar alleged that such claims and what he described as "misleading narratives" played a role in Modi's rise to the post of prime minister.</p>.<p>He alleged that remarks made about Muslims have contributed to communal polarisation in the country. </p>