Mani Shankar Aiyar slips, refers to Mughal rule for Rahul Gandhi's nomination

Prone to faux pas, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, once again made way for the BJP to attack Congress on the final day of submission of nominations for Congress's president post. Inadvertently, Aiyar compared Rahul Gandhi's imminent ascendancy with the Mughal dynasty.

"When Shah Jahan ascended the throne after Jahangir, was there an election? When Aurangzeb took over the throne after Shah Jahan, was there an election? No! Earlier, everyone was aware of the fact that the king's heir will take over the throne after the former cedes duties. If there was infighting, that would be a different story altogether."

Though Aiyar went on to explain further that the times have now changed and that in a democracy elections are held, so any Congressman is eligible to file nominations, the BJP was quick to pick up the Mughal analogy and attack Rahul.

Within hours, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an election rally in Gujarat likened the imminent elevation of Rahul Gandhi to the dynastic succession of Mughal rulers.

"Mani Shanker Aiyar, who was a minister in the Congress government, discussed the absence of an electoral process for succession during the Mughal rule. So, is the Congress accepting that it is a one family party? We don't want this Aurangzebi raaj … For us, the country comes first, and the 125 crore people of this country are our high-command," Modi said at an election rally in Dharmapur, Gujarat.