Congress sticking out like a sore thumb is really dumb

India Today

4 days ago

"I will not let my political interests come in the way of my national interest," said Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee in Singapore. What the Trinamool Congress, and for that matter, most parties understand, the Congress doesn't. And that's why it not just sticks out like a sore thumb, but is losing ground as the main Opposition party.India has sent seven teams with a rainbow coalition of leaders across the world to present its case on Operation Sindoor and suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan. Among others, if there is Banerjee from TMC, there's Shashi Tharoor from the Congress, Priyanka Chaturvedi from the Shiv Sena (UBT), John Brittas of the CPM and Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM.advertisementOn national duty, each one of these leaders and others have been speaking vociferously for India and their parties have backed them wholeheartedly.
All, barring the Congress.Even as the parties are busy amplifying the voices of their leaders representing India, the Congress is busy fact-checking Tharoor.What's damaging for the cause is that Congress leaders are calling Tharoor a "super BJP spokesperson" at a time when the MP is a representative not just of his constituency, but all the citizens of India.Tharoor is leading a team that is visiting the US, other than Panama, Guyana, Brazil, and Colombia.The suave, erudite Tharoor and his team have a big task cut out. With Donald Trump in the Oval Office, DC's diplomacy is akin to Russian roulette.The unhappiness of the Congress brass with Tharoor must be the worst-kept secret of India's politics. But the party trying to pull him down at this juncture works not just against the country's interests but is a betrayal of its longstanding legacy of bipartisanship.advertisementAs Prime Ministers, Congress's Indira Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao sent opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee on diplomatic assignments.The other reason India has launched a rarely-seen-before diplomatic blitz is because Pakistan, incidentally, is a non-permanent member of the UNSC with its term ending in 2026. It will try to use the platform for spreading misinformation, what it has been doing since the Pahalgam attack, taking it to a crescendo after Op Sindoor. That enemy and its guile is what the country's representatives are trying to preempt across over 30 countries across the world.The Congress had a problem with Tharoor being made a part of the recent post-Op Sindoor mission from the very beginning. When asked for a list by the government, it chose to ignore Tharoor, who had been vocal of India's anti-terror fight and Pakistan's terror exports since the Pahalgam attack.With around 30 years at the UN, Tharoor, who is an author, thought leader and orator, is one of the most ideal candidates for the mission.Though Congress might have problems with Tharoor, this is the worst time to air them.It was Tharoor's assertion that India's terror response under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has changed and that the first surgical strike across the Line of Control (LoC) came in 2016, with Modi at the helm, was what got the Congress's goat.advertisementTharoor, however, has expressed that he doesn't have the time for petty politics."After a long and successful day in Panama, i have to wind up at midnight here with departure for Bogota, Colombia in six hours, so I don't really have time for this..." But then he addressed the likes of Pawan Khera and Udit Raj — and called them exactly what they were "zealots".The Congress would be doing itself a favour if it can put muzzles on the leaders, because this is dumbness at its worst and exposes the party as a sore thumb.Must Watch