Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, in an exclusive interview with news agency PTI, recounted how the Gandhi family played a part in both his rise and his subsequent marginalisation within the party.

For 10 years, he was not given the opportunity to have a one-on-one meeting with Sonia Gandhi or spend any meaningful time with Rahul Gandhi, the veteran leader said.

Mani Shankar Aiyar said he has gotten used to being out of the Congress and recalled when he was taken aback when he once wished former party chief Sonia Gandhi on Christmas.

Mani Shankar Aiyar clarified that he never called Narendra Modi a 'chaiwala,' discussing the 2014 controversy in his new book.

Mani Shankar Aiyar, in an interview, revealed his limited interaction with the Gandhi family, stating his career was both built and destroyed by them. He also suggested that Congress's 2014 defeat wouldn't have been so severe if Pranab Mukherjee had been PM instead of Manmohan Singh.