Cong brass didn't warn me: Tharoor
1
2
3
T'puram:
Congress Working Committee
member
Shashi Tharoor
said the party did not issue any warning to him regarding his comments on the
India-Pakistan conflict
.
"If there was a warning, wouldn't the AICC issue a press release? Otherwise, senior leaders would publicly explain the party's decision; none of this happened anywhere.
Then how did the news of the warning against me reach the media? Jairam Ramesh didn't criticise anyone by name," Tharoor told reporters on Thursday.
Tharoor expressed surprise at the 'ban' news from the AICC meeting he attended and said the news was a blatant lie. Tharoor said he left the venue 10 minutes before the meeting concluded since he had to catch a flight to Thiruvananthapuram and no one criticised him by name or issued any warnings until then.
"Even after the meeting, no one in the leadership informed me of any warning. There have been no official statements from the AICC. No responsible Congress leaders have publicly claimed that I was warned," said Tharoor.
"At this time, at a time of conflict, I spoke as an Indian. I never pretended to speak for anyone else. I am not a spokesperson for the party. I am not the govt spokesperson. Whatever I have said, you may agree or disagree with that, blame it on me individually and that's fine," said Tharoor.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he made it very clear that he was expressing his personal views. "It was really a contribution to the national discourse, at a time when it was very important for us to rally around the flag, especially internationally. There was a relative lack of our point of view being heard, particularly in the US, Europe and the Middle East. People are entirely free to reject my point of view. I have received no communication from the party; all I am seeing is media reports," he said.
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