What is their party position? Shashi Tharoor on snub by Kerala Congress

India Today

22-07-2025

MP Shashi Tharoor said there was no basis to the charges by a section of Congress leaders over his stance on the national security issue, asserting that he was "not at all" worried about his future with the party.Speaking to the media outside Parliament, Tharoor attempted to play down the apparent tensions with the Congress leadership even as he took a swipe at the party's Kerala unit.advertisementWhen asked about Kerala Congress leader K Muraleedharan's remark that he would not be invited to any party event in the state, a visibly unfazed Tharoor gave a cryptic response.
"The people who are saying this should have some basis for saying so. Who are they? What is their party position? I want to know. Then we will see. Don't ask me about the behaviour of others. I can talk about my behaviour," the four-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.When asked if he was worried about the developments, Tharoor replied promptly, "Not at all".SHASHI THAROOR'S 'LOYALTY' REMARKSince the beginning of the year, Tharoor has stirred the Congress brass with his praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and public endorsements of the government's policies.The political spat escalated on Sunday after Muraleedharan said Tharoor, despite being a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), was "no longer one of us"."Till he (Tharoor) changes his stance, we will not invite him to any party programme held in Thiruvananthapuram. He is not with us, so there is no question of him boycotting an event," Muraleedharan told reporters.Muraleedharan's response came after Tharoor said at an event in Kochi that the nation always came first and parties were the means of making the country better.The Congress MP also shared a video of his response to the "inevitable question" about his alleged rift with the party."Which is your first loyalty? To my mind, the nation comes first. Parties are a means of making the nation better," he said.Simmering for months now, the friction between Tharoor and the Congress became more pronounced after the Kerala MP accepted the Centre's invitation to lead an all-party delegation to garner support for Operation Sindoor.Days later, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge publicly chided Tharoor without naming him, saying, "For the Congress, it is country first, but for some people, it is Modi first."- EndsMust Watch