Shashi Tharoor irks Congresss again, calls PM Modi a ‘prime asset for India’

In what could be seen as a fresh provocation for the Congress, party MP Shashi Tharoor heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi yet again, calling him a ‘prime asset for India’.

 

Tharoor, who led the all-party delegation to the United States, Panama, Guyana, Colombia, and Brazil explaining India’s stand on terrorism in the wake of the Operation Sindoor, called for more support for Modi’s "energy, dynamism and willingness to engage”.

 

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's energy, dynamism and willingness to engage remains a prime asset for India on the global stage, but deserves greater backing," he wrote in an article in The Hindu.

 

Tharoor claimed that during his team’s visit, the US officials echoed India’s concerns even as a Pakistani delegation was present in Washington.

 

"Even as a Pakistani delegation was simultaneously present, we found US representatives, including those who met the Pakistani officials, echoing our concerns and urging decisive action against terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed," he wrote.

 

Tharoor and the Congress leadership have not been on the same on a range of issues and the cracks were more evident after the Pahalgam attack, with the Kerala MP openly supporting the Modi government’s actions.

 

Tharoor was a direct pick by the government to lead one of the delegations even as his name had not been figured in the list given by the Congress.

 

Also, the remarks made by Tharoor in Panama about India’s cross-border surgical strikes further ruffled the Congress's feathers with his party colleague Udit Raj saying he should be made a "super spokesperson of the BJP".

 

Last week, Tharoor said he has differences of opinion with some in the party leadership, but he is not going to speak about them in light of the bypoll in the Nilambur constituency.

 

"I do have differences of opinion with some in the Congress leadership. You know what I am talking about, as some of those issues are there in the public domain and have been reported by you (media)," Tharoor said. He did not clarify whether his differences of opinion were with the national or state leadership.

 

Tharoor, a high-profile leader from Thiruvananthapuram, further caused a stir on the polling day when he told reporters that he had not been invited to campaign, unlike during past bypolls such as the one in Wayanad.

India