Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday claimed that he has never deviated from the party line, notwithstanding criticism from within the outfit about some of his recent remarks, PTI reported.
Tharoor was speaking to reporters after attending the Lakshya 2026 Leadership Camp organised by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee ahead of the Assembly elections in the state, expected to be held in April.
“My question is who said that I left the party line,” PTI quoted Tharoor as saying. “Even when I expressed my opinions on various subjects, on most matters, the party and I have stood on the same line.”
Speculation about differences with the party leadership had emerged after Tharoor praised senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani on his birthday on November 8.
Advani was among the Hindutva leaders who led the agitation for the Ram temple through his “Ram Rath Yatra” in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The Babri Masjid, located in Ayodhya, was demolished by Hindutva extremists on December 6, 1992, because they believed that it stood on the spot on which the deity Ram had been born. The incident had triggered communal riots across the country.
After his praise for Advani had triggered a debate in November, Tharoor had defended his remarks saying that reducing the BJP leader’s long years of service to one episode, “however significant”, was unfair. The Congress had at the time distanced itself from Tharoor’s comments.
On Monday, the Congress leader said that he made the remarks about Advani because “our culture teaches us to respect elders and that is what I did”.
Tharoor also responded to the row that was triggered on November 18 after he commented on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address at the Ramnath Goenka Memorial Lecture in New Delhi.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP had described Modi’s speech as a blend of “economic outlook and a cultural call to action, urging the nation to be restless for progress”.
The Congress had at the time said that it found no reason to praise the PM’s lecture.
On Monday, Tharoor said that he had only quoted what was said at the event about Modi.
“I asked people to point out where I praised him [Modi],” PTI quoted him as saying. “If one reads the full post, it is clear there was nothing of that sort.”
He added that controversies often arise when media reports are based only on headlines without reading the full content.
“When I ask whether people have read what I actually wrote, most have not,” PTI quoted him as saying. “After reading the full text, they realise the real issue.”
Tharoor said he had been in the Congress for 17 years and shared good relations with his party colleagues. “There is no need for any sudden misunderstanding now,” he was quoted as saying.
Asked whether the speculations of his strained relationship started after he contested for the Congress president’s post, Tharoor said that internal elections were part of the party’s democratic traditions.
“I contested and lost,” PTI quoted him as saying. “The chapter ended there. I don’t see any story in it.”
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