&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Who are they,’ asks Shashi Tharoor in retort to ‘he is not with us’ remark as Cong rift widens")
The targeting of Shashi Tharoor by Congress leaders ever since he led the Operation Sindoor outreach delegation has been on the rise and is becoming troublesome for him. In a rare outburst on Tuesday, the Lok Sabha MP snapped back at K Muraleedharan, though he did not name the senior Congress leader from Kerala over his “he is not with us” comment.
“The people who are saying this should have some basis for saying so. Who are they? I want to know. Then we will see. Don’t ask me about the behaviour of others. I can (only) talk about my behaviour,” said a visibly irritated Tharoor while speaking to reporters in Delhi. He did not take any name, but the reference was obvious.
‘No invite till he changes his stance’
On Sunday, K Muraleedharan, a four-time former MP and two-time ex-MLA, said Shashi Tharoor would no longer be welcome to party programme in the state of Kerala till he reverses comments made after the Pahalgam terror attack in April and India’s subsequent military response, i.e., Operation Sindoor.
“Till he (Tharoor) changes his stance, we will not invite him to any party programme held in Thiruvananthapuram. He is not with us... so there is no question of him boycotting an event.”
Muraleedharan also slammed Tharoor over a contentious survey that showed the MP as the ‘preferred choice’ to replace Pinarayi Vijayan as chief minister after next year’s election.
Congress rubbishes survey as ‘cooked up’
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The Congress later rubbished the survey, calling it “cooked up”. “Such surveys have no credibility. They are all cooked up. You will see many such surveys come up before the election,” the party said.
The criticism grew after Shashi Tharoor said that he prioritises development over politics and political parties. He was also criticised for praising PM Narendra Modi’s leadership after the Pahalgam attack.
In 2021, Tharoor had joined a group of ‘dissenters’, i.e., the G-23, and questioned the Gandhis’ leadership after consecutive election defeats.
Tharoor has also firmly denied a switch to the BJP and said, “It is not a sign of my leaping to join the Prime Minister’s party... as some people have been implying.”
