Has Shashi Tharoor’s association with Congress reached dead end? | India News

NEW DELHI: For several times in the last few months we have heard the Congress “distance” itself from Shashi Tharoor‘s remarks. But now, in an interesting turn of events, it appears that Shashi Tharoor is “distancing” himself from the Congress. The gap between Congress and Tharoor, that first appeared on the surface in February this year when the Thiruvananthapuram MP openly praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit, seems to have widened in the last few days. The government’s move to nominate Tharoor for its global diplomatic outreach post Operation Sindoor, bypassing the Congress leadership, has perhaps brought the differences to a tipping point. Congress veteran P J Kurien’s recent remark: “If people suspect Tharoor is leaning towards the BJP, no one can blame them for thinking so” sums up the visible strain in the relationship. It has raised the obvious question: Is Tharoor on his way out of the Congress?Well, we may not have a clear answer to this question right now. But there are enough hints to suggest that Congress and Tharoor are drifting apart.Here’s what they had to say about each other after the latest round of stand-off trigerred by the government’s nomination move.Tharoor, when asked about not being nominated by the party, said, “My party leadership is entitled to its opinion of my abilities or lack thereof, and I think that is really for them to explain. I have absolutely no comment to make on that. I am honoured to have been entrusted with the responsibility, and I will fulfil that responsibility just as I have fulfilled every responsibility entrusted to me in my rather long working life, whether at the United Nations or in the Congress Party.“When asked if the party was trying to insult him by releasing the names suggested by it for the delegation, Tharoor said that he cannot be insulted so easily. “I know my worth,” he asserted.Tharoor also echoed the government line and said “To my mind, this has nothing to do with party politics. It’s all to do with what our country has been through in recent times and the need for us to present a united front. It is a good reflection of national unity at a time when unity is important.”The Congress, unhappy with Tharoor’s ready acceptance of the responsibility ignoring the party stand, said: “There is a difference between being in the Congress and being of the Congress. The Congress is like the mighty Ganga, which has many tributaries… Some of them dry up and some get polluted.” Tharoor’s many messages to the Congress That Shashi Tharoor and the Congress were not on the same page on several issues in the last few months was an open secret. There were several instances when Tharoor praised PM Modi‘s policies without bothering much about the party line. On PM Modi’s US visit“PM Modi’s US visit has yielded some positive outcomes for the Indian people. I welcome the fact that there is now an agreement to have a negotiation for the next 9 months on trade and tariffs. It’s far better than Washington hastily and unilaterally imposing some tariffs on us, which could have damaged and hurt our exports. It seems to me that something good has been achieved, and I applaud that as an Indian. We can’t always speak only in terms of party interests.I am not a party spokesman. I am an MP elected by all the people of Thiruvananthapuram, and on that basis, I speak as a responsible stakeholder in Indian democracy.”On Russia-Ukraine war“India’s diplomatic approach had given the Prime Minister a unique position to hug both the president of Ukraine and the president of Moscow two weeks apart and be accepted in both places. I am still wiping the egg off my face because I was one person in the parliamentary debate who actually criticised the Indian position at the time back in February 2022.” On Covid vaccine diplomacy“India’s vaccine diplomacy during the Covid pandemic stands out from amid the horrors of that time as a powerful example of international leadership rooted in responsibility and solidarity. By delivering made-in-India vaccines to over 100 nations, India demonstrated its capacity to extend a helping hand when it mattered most. “This initiative during the dark days of the Covid pandemic reinforced India’s standing as a force for good in the world, reflecting its humanitarian spirit and adding to the allure of its soft power.It carried the values of compassion, cooperation, and global partnership to the world, building goodwill, strengthening diplomatic ties, and elevating India’s global stature.”On intelligence failure in Pahalgam terror attack“Obviously, there was no full proof intelligence. There was some failure… But we have got the example of Israel, the world’s best intelligence services according to everybody, which were taken by surprise on October 7, just two years ago. It seems to me, just as Israel is waiting till the end of the war before they demand accountability, similarly, I think we too should see the present crisis through and then demand accountability from the government.No country can ever have a foolproof 100 per cent intelligence.’Clearly, Tharoor’s praise for PM Modi and his policies was not an one-off transgression, but a sustained campaign to perhaps send across some message to the Congress leadership. When pointed out that his remarks were at variance with the party’s stand, Tharoor strongly defended his position.“For 16 years, I have been in politics. My attitude has been that when somebody in the government, whether it’s our government or some other party’s government, does the right thing or does something well, one should acknowledge and praise it, and when they do something badly, one should criticise it,” Tharoor said in February when objections were raised to his praise for PM Modi’s US trip.‘Sleepless night’: PM Modi’s ‘Tharoor’ swipe at CongressThe differences between Congress and Tharoor were so obvious that Prime Minister Modi took swipes at the grand-old-party when he shared stage with the Thiruvanantpuram MP at a function in Kerala.In his address during the public event, PM Modi had said, “I want to tell Chief Minister (Pinarayi Vijayan), you are a strong pillar of INDI alliance, Shashi Tharoor is also sitting here. Today’s event is going to disturb the sleep of many.”When the translator failed to deliver the exact translation of Prime Minister’s message from Hindi to Malayalam, PM Modi said, “The message has gone wherever it has to go.”Repeat ‘offender’?Interestingly, this is not the first time that Tharoor has landed in trouble with the Congress over his praise for PM Modi. In February 2015, Tharoor had called PM Modi “master communicator at work.”“In the Prime Minister, we are all seeing a master communicator at work. The Prime Minister is very effective in speech-making, comes up with slogans, sound bites, photo ops in quite an unparalleled way,” Tharoor had then said.Tharoor’s repeated praise for Modi then had prompted Kerala Congress to remind him that he had been elected on a Congress ticket. The state unit had then warned Tharoor of disciplinary action if he kept on lauding Modi’s initiatives.When Kerala Congress objected to Tharoor’s endorsement of PM Modi’s “Swachh Bharat” campaign, Tharoor had said that it did not mean that he even remotely endorsed the BJP’s “core Hindutva” agenda and that he continued to be a “proud Congressman”.“I am astonished that anyone would suggest that I am pro-BJP. I have a 30-year paper trail of published writings on my idea of India and my profound belief in India’s pluralism,” Tharoor had then said in a Facebook comment.“Being receptive to specific statements or actions of BJP leaders does not remotely imply acceptance of the party’s core Hindutva agenda. The PM pitched his appeal as a non-political one and I received it in that spirit. I am a proud Congressman and a proud Indian. In short, not pro-BJP, just pro-India,” the former UN diplomat had said.In 2015, Tharoor was clearly defensive about his views and statements which were at variance with the party. 10 years later, he appears to be aggressive about his stand and has justified his views. So, the question is: “Is Shashi Tharoor now forcing his way out of the Congress?” Well, we will have to wait and see how this saga unfolds.