Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Monday (February 16, 2026) said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin stood the best chance of consolidating the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parties in the INDIA bloc to “help Rahul Gandhi assume the Prime Minister’s Office”.
Speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, he said Mr. Stalin had refrained from hurling epithets and coining pseudo-slogans such as “Vote Chori and Chowkidar Chor Hai”. Instead, he remained singularly focused on “every single point that is relevant to federalism in India”, Mr. Aiyar said.
Mani Shankar Aiyar says remarks on Kerala CM ‘blown out of proportion’
He compared the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to the iconic Congress leader late K. Kamaraj.
Mr. Aiyar described Mr. Stalin as a “person of great virtue,” adding that he would not stand in the way of Mr. Gandhi becoming Prime Minister.
