In his latest book, Mani Shankar Aiyar suggests the UPA-II era could have been salvaged by swapping Manmohan Singh and Pranab Mukherjee's roles in 2012. This strategic shift, he argues, might have forestalled Congress's 'paralysis of governance' and the devastating 2014 electoral defeat.

Mani Shankar Aiyar`s new book reveals why Pranab Mukherjee should have been PM in 2012, preventing UPA`s downfall. A critical analysis of UPA-II`s governance.

Aiyar claimed several crises, particularly Anna Hazare's 'India Against Corruption' movement, “were either not handled effectively or not handled at all”

Mani Shankar Aiyar argued that Congress's decision to retain Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister despite his declining health led to governance paralysis and ultimately doomed the party's chances of forming UPA-III.

The 83-year-old Aiyar states in the book - 'A Maverick in Politics' - that the UPA would not have gone into a "paralysis of governance" if Pranab Mukherjee was made the Prime Minister and Manmohan Singh would have been elevated to President when the office of Rashtrapati presented an opening in 2012.