Mani Shankar Aiyar Biography: Birth, Age, Early Life, Family, Education, Career, Political Journey, Books, Awards, and More

Mani Shankar Aiyar Biography: He is a diplomat who turned politician, a former Union Minister, and an author of various books. He was born on 10 April 1941 in Lahore (now in Pakistan). In the early 1960s, he joined the Indian Foreign Service and went on to become a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. 

In the 10th Lok Sabha, 13th Lok Sabha, and 14th Lok Sabha, he represented the Mayiladuthurai constituency of Tamil Nadu. He was a nominated member of parliament from the Rajya Sabha. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, he was defeated from Mayiladuthurai. 

Mani Shankar Aiyar: Key Facts

Mani Shankar Aiyar Biography: Early Life, Family, Education, Marriage, Children

He was born on 10 April 1941 to Vaidyanatha Shankar Aiyar, and Bhagyalakshmi Shankar Aiyar in Lahore, Punjab, British India (now Pakistan). After partition in 1947, his family migrated to India. His father was an accountant and died when Mani Shankar Aiyar was still a boy. He attended Doon School in Dehradun, Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand). There he became a friend of Rajiv Gandhi.

He earned two degrees in economics, one at the University of Delhi (1961) and the second at the University of Cambridge, England (1963).

He was married to Suneet Vir Singh and the couple has three daughters namely, Suranya Aiyar, Yamini Aiyar, and Sana Aiyar.

Mani Shankar Aiyar: Career and Political Journey

He entered the Indian Foreign Service in 1963. Over the next 15 years, he served at several overseas diplomatic postings like in Belgium and Iraq. 

He was named as India's first consul general in 1978 occupying the office of Deputy High Commission in Karachi and remained till 1982.

From 1982 to 1983, he served as Joint Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of External Affairs. Later, he served as Joint Secretary at Prime Minister's Office from 1985 to 1989.

In 1989, he decided to take retirement from the Foreign Service to pursue a career in politics. As a member of the Congress Party, he served as a special assistant to Gandhi, who was then the party's president, until Gandhi's assassination in 1991.  

In 1991, he went for elected office and won a seat in the Lok Sabha from a constituency in Tamil Nadu state. In 1996 and 1998, he lost two elections but was reelected two more times, in 1999 and 2004. 

He joined the cabinet of the newly-formed Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government. Until 2009, he was the head of the Panchayati Raj.

He also held various portfolios during his tenure in the UPA government namely, Ministries of Petroleum and Natural Gas (2004–06), Youth Affairs and Sports (2006–08), and Development of North Eastern Region (2008–09).

In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he lost his seat and so resigned from the government.

He was nominated to Rajya Sabha in March 2010 by the President due to his expertise in the field of social services and his literary accomplishments.

He served on the Standing Committee on Rural Development and on the Consultative Committee on External Affairs.

In 2016, he left Rajya Sabha.

Mani Shankar Aiyar: Award 

He was honoured as the Year's Outstanding Parliamentarian in 2006 by the President of India.

Mani Shankar Aiyar: Books written by him

Some of the books written by him are as follows:

Remembering Rajiv (1992),

Knickerwallahs, Silly-Billies, and Other Curious Creatures (1995),

Confessions of a Secular Fundamentalist (2004), and

A Time of Transition: Rajiv Gandhi to the 21st Century (2009)

Mani Shankar Aiyar was known as a fierce protagonist for peace between India and Pakistan through dialogue and diplomacy. However, as a parliamentarian, he sometimes provoked controversy due to his blunt statements. 

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