'The sky belongs to no one': Shashi Tharoor claps back at Mallikarjun Kharge for 'Modi first' remarks

Hours after Congress President slammed Shashi Tharoor for his praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Thiruvananthapuram MP took a subtle dig at the former amid differences with the party's central and state leaders.

Tharoor, who led one of the seven global outreach delegations from India following the success of Operation Sindoor last month, shared a picture with a famous quote, reading, "Don't ask permission to fly. The wings are yours. And the sky belongs to no one."

This was a veiled reference to Congress top brass and the party leaders from the Kerala unit who have been targeting him for agreeing to be part of the delegation despite their reservations.

Earlier in the day, Kharge took a vitriolic jab at Tharoor, saying, "We say nation first, but some consider Modi first, country later. What can we do about that?"

In a recent article in The Hindu, Tharoor said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's energy, dynamism and willingness to engage is a "prime asset" for India on the world stage but pointed out that it deserved greater support.

When asked about this, the Congress chief said, "I can't read English, but his language is very good, that's why we made him a member of the party's working committee. But what I want to say is that all of us, the entire opposition, have come together and said we stand with our Army, our Army that is fighting, we are with them."

However, on Tuesday, the Kerala lawmaker clarified that he praised Modi as part of a  "statement of national unity, of national interest and of standing up for India", pointing out that it should not be implied as him "leaping to join" the BJP.

Congress has distanced itself from Tharoor's remarks in the article, which was later shared by the PM. The party went on to claim that NDA government's foreign policy has "fallen flat" completely.

On June 11, Tharoor met the prime minister at his Delhi residence following the successful global outreach trip.

India