"Agree With Shashi Tharoor...": Pawan Khera's Veiled Attack On Colleague

NDTV

2 days ago

New Delhi:
In a clear sign that Shashi Tharoor's ties with the Congress may be at a crossroads, senior party leader Pawan Khera has responded to the Thiruvananthapuram MP's "critics and trolls" post with a passage from his book 'The Paradoxical Prime Minister: Narendra Modi and His India'.
Mr Khera has posted a photograph of a highlighted passage. Here, Mr Tharoor has accused the Narendra Modi government of "repeatedly using the army in its political propaganda". "The shameless exploitation of the 2016 surgical strikes' along the Line of Control with Pakistan, and of a military raid in hot pursuit of rebels in Myanmar, as party election tool-something the Congress had never done despite having authorized several such strikes earlier-marked particularly disgraceful dilution of the principle that national Security issues require both discretion and non-partisanship," he has written.
I agree with that Dr @ShashiTharoor who wrote about surgical strikes in his book in 2018 - 'The Paradoxical Prime Minister'. #ReadingNow pic.twitter.com/hAhsfwH0JT
— Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 (@Pawankhera) May 29, 2025
In the accompanying post, Mr Khera said, "I agree with what Dr Shashi Tharoor writes about surgical strikes in his book 'The Paradoxical Prime Minister'."
Following Mr Tharoor's remarks in Panama, in which he praised the Narendra Modi government's response to terrorism, Mr Khera has been posting on X about how surgical strikes were carried out during the UPA era too and tagging Mr Tharoor on these posts. Mr Khera is among the key figures in the Congress high command. So, the message to Mr Tharoor is clear: the party is not happy with him. Making this clear, Congress's communications chief Jairam Ramesh responded to one of the posts by Mr Khera with a poetic swipe at Mr Tharoor. "Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive..., he said.
Mr Tharoor has led an Indian delegation to the US and four other countries as part of the Centre's global outreach in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. After events in the US and Panama, the delegation is now headed to Bogota.
Taking note of his party colleagues' jibes, the four-time MP put out a post on X. "After a long and successful day in Panama, I have to wind up at midnightvhere with departure for Bogota, Colombia in six hours, so I don't really have time for this - but anyway: For those zealots fulminating about my supposed ignorance of Indian valour across the LoC: in tge past (sic).
"I was clearly and explicitly speaking only about reprisals for terrorist attacks and not about previous wars; & my remarks were preceded by a reference to the several attacks that have taken place in recent years alone, during which previous Indian responses were both restrained and constrained by our responsible respect for the LoC and the IB. But as usual, critics and trolls are welcome to distort my views and words as they see fit. I genuinely have better things to do. Goodnight," he said.
After a long and successful day in Panama, i have to wind up at midnightvhere with departure for Bogota, Colombia in six hours, so I don't really have time for this — but anyway: For those zealots fulminating about my supposed ignorance of Indian valour across the LoC: in tge…
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) May 29, 2025
Yesterday, while addressing a gathering in Panama City, Mr Tharoor said terrorists targeting India have realised in recent years that they will have to pay. "What has changed in recent years is that the terrorists have also realised they will have a price to pay. On that, let there be no doubt. When, for the first time, India breached the Line of Control between India and Pakistan to conduct a surgical strike on a terror base, a launchpad - the Uri strike in September 2015. That was already something we had not done before."
"Even during the Kargil War, we had not crossed the Line of Control; in Uri, we did, and then came the attack in Pulwama in January 2019. This time, we crossed not only the Line of Control but also the international border, and we struck the terrorist headquarters in Balakot. This time, we have gone beyond both of those. We have not only gone beyond the Line of Control and the international border. We have struck at the Punjabi heartland of Pakistan by hitting terror bases, training centres, terror headquarters in nine places," he said.
The remarks drew a jibe from Congress leader Udit Raj. "Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is the super spokesperson of the BJP. He doing Modi ji's chamchagiri (flattery) more than BJP leaders. Does he (Shashi Tharoor) even know what the earlier governments used to do? ... They (the Central government) are taking credit for the Indian Armed Forces. Shashi Tharoor has become the spokesperson for the publicity stunts of the BJP," Mr Raj said.
Shortly after, senior Congress leaders Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh joined the offensive against Mr Tharoor, making it clear that the Congress high command has taken note.
Shashi Tharoor has had a chequered journey in the Congress, with several run-ins with the leadership. A former Union minister, he was removed as the party's spokesperson in 2014 after he praised Prime Minister Modi in an article. In 2022, he was part of a rebellion by 23 senior party leaders that called for key organisational changes. Many of these leaders have since left Congress. Later that year, Mr Tharoor contested against Mallikarjun Kharge for the party president's post. While Mr Kharge, who had the tacit support of the Gandhi family, won comfortably, Mr Tharoor got over 1,000 votes, an impressive feat for anyone taking on a "Gandhi-approved" candidate.
Following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, he spoke to several national and international platforms. While his remarks made headlines and even his critics praised him for his articulation of the Indian position, the Congress leadership is not happy.
The Congress, which assured full support to the Centre in its action against those behind the Pahalgam terror attack, has now changed tack and asked the government to come clean on what led to the ceasefire and questioned what role the US played in it.
Earlier, the high command sent a message to Mr Tharoor at a meeting of top leaders. "We are a democratic party and people keep expressing their opinion, but this time, Tharoor has crossed the Lakshman Rekha," a party source said. The sources said the leadership sent a "clear message" that leaders must focus on amplifying the party's stand instead of expressing individual opinions.
Mr Tharoor has said he has made the remarks in a personal capacity and that he is not a party spokesperson.
Against this backdrop, the government selected Mr Tharoor to lead one of the seven Indian delegations travelling abroad as part of the outreach. The Congress said it had not suggested Mr Tharoor's name. The former diplomat said the party is entitled to have an opinion of his abilities and that he will fulfill the responsibility assigned to him.