Shashi Tharoor reacts to Congress backlash over Pahalgam stand: ‘Not here on a party political mission'

Hindustan Times

2 days ago

People who consider working in national interest as anti-party activities need to question themselves, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has said even as he brushed aside speculations over his quitting the main opposition party.
Tharoor, currently in the US leading a multi-party delegation on Operation Sindoor, has been under attack by some Congress leaders who have recently attacked him for supporting the government's stand following the Pahalgam attack.
The Congress leader has even been dubbed as the 'super spokesperson of the BJP by one of his party colleagues.
'Frankly, when one is doing the nation's service, I don't think one needs to worry too much about these things,' Tharoor said here in an interview with PTI Videos on Wednesday.
'I think anybody who sort of considers that working in the national interest is some sort of anti-party activity really needs to question themselves rather than us,' he said when asked what his message would be to his detractors upon his return to India.
Tharoor's remarks have at times been at variance with the Congress party's official stand on certain issues.
On social media being abuzz about whether Tharoor would continue to be with Congress or join the BJP, he said: 'I'm an elected member of parliament. I have four years left of my term. I don't know why there is any question to be asked.'
In response to a question on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and saying he had 'surrendered' after receiving a phone call from US President Donald Trump, Tharoor said: 'In a democracy, and this is normal, parties will contend, express criticism, and make demands.'
'We are not here on a party political mission. We are here as representatives of a united India," he said, pointing out the delegation included five political parties from three religions and seven states.
The senior Congress leader said he noticed his friend Salman Khurshid asked if it was so difficult to be a patriot in India these days.
Apart from Tharoor, the delegation comprised MPs Sarfaraz Ahmad, Ganti Harish Madhur Balayogi, Shashank Mani Tripathi, Bhubaneswar Kalita, Milind Deora, Tejasvi Surya, and India's former ambassador to the US Taranjit Sandhu. They arrived from India in New York on May 24 and travelled to Guyana, Panama, Colombia and Brazil before arriving in Washington, the last leg of the tour.
'It's an incredible cross-section reflective of India's diversity. And yet we've come up with a united message. So there is unity in diversity as well, in this group, and to my mind, our focus has to be on that unified message, because when it comes to the national interest, national security, honestly, I think by and large, the nation is united.'
Tharoor also asserted that they were not on a party political mission, but were visiting several countries as representatives of a united India.
He referred to an old interview saying that 'our political differences stop at the edge of the border. Once you cross the border, you are Indian, and your other allegiances come second'.
Responding to a question on Trump's repeated claims of mediating in the conflict between India and Pakistan, Tharoor said: 'I'm not necessarily having to address it because I'm not here to stir up any sort of complications in our relationship with the White House.
'We have enormous respect for the American presidency and for the American president. And I think we don't know exactly what his folks said to Pakistan.
'We didn't need persuading by anybody, because our signal from day one was, if Pakistan hits back, we will hit them even harder. If they stop, we will stop. We said that from the first day. We said it on the last day,' he said.
'So from our point of view, there was no need to ask us to stop, because we were going to stop as soon as Pakistan did."
'Of course, they may have talked to Pakistan. They may have said various things to Pakistan. We will never know what was said because that's between them and Pakistan, and that may well explain a lot of what is coming out in Washington. But I can't tell you because I'm not Pakistani and I'm not American,' Tharoor said.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, with India carrying out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7.
Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9, and 10. The Indian side responded strongly to the Pakistani actions.
The on-ground hostilities ended with an understanding of stopping the military actions following talks between the directors general of military operations of both sides on May 10. PTI SJH YAS PY SKC MPB NPK NPK