Tharoor: PM's dynamism, willingness to engage a ‘prime asset' for India
Tharoor said the very composition of the foreign outreach teams after Op Sindoor, featuring MPs from diverse parties and faiths, was a potent message in itself
New Delhi : Disregarding
Congress
brass's frowns, its MP
Shashi Tharoor
has said PM
Narendra Modi
's energy, dynamism and willingness to engage remains a 'prime asset' for India on the global stage but deserves greater backing.
'The diplomatic outreach following
Operation Sindoor
was a moment of national resolve and effective communication. It affirmed that India, when united, can project its voice with clarity and conviction on international platforms,' Tharoor wrote in an article published in The Hindu.
'While the immediate military action was decisive, the subsequent diplomatic outreach was equally, if not more, vital in shaping global perceptions and consolidating international support,' the Thiruvananthapuram MP said in the article that was referred to by PMO on its X handle.
Tharoor had earlier raised his party leadership's hackles by praising Operation Sindoor and by agreeing to head one of the parliamentary delegations to sensitise global opinion to the necessity of India's military retaliation following the
Pahalgam terror attack
. His party had questioned govt picking members of the delegation.
His fresh praise for the PM can only widen the MP's gulf with the party brass. It also coincides with a fresh flurry of Congress attacks on Modi, this time for not 'unequivocally condemning' the US for bombing Iran.
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Some in the party said Tharoor, unlike many of his colleagues, did not repost on X an article by Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Gaza and Iran.
In contrast, BJP highlighted Tharoor's praise for the PM. Reflecting on his experience of leading the delegation that visited the US and other countries, Tharoor said the very composition of the delegations, featuring MPs from diverse political parties, different states and varied faiths, was a potent message in itself.
'It underscored that when it comes to national security and confronting terrorism, India speaks with one voice. This transcended domestic political differences, imbuing our message with greater credibility and gravitas in the eyes of our international interlocutors,' he said.
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Time of India
21 minutes ago
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'You have 12 hours to escape': Did Israeli intel agents warn Iranian generals before strike? What viral audio revealed
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Indian Express
23 minutes ago
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Raj Narain: The unlikely hero who couldn't stop fighting, including his own side
Of all the words used to describe Raj Narain, few would use 'hero'. Most would say 'maverick'. Characteristically, even at the zenith of his political career, the man who brought down Indira Gandhi could not help but be both. Fifty years later, Narain remains among the few people who can claim to have been instrumental in toppling two Indian Prime Ministers – Mrs Gandhi, and then Morarji Desai. It was the then 57-year-old's petition that led to the Allahabad High Court setting aside Mrs Gandhi's 1971 election, leading to her declaring the Emergency. In the 1977 Lok Sabha polls, Narain rounded off this defeat by trouncing Mrs Gandhi personally at the hustings. Come 1979, he conspired with the Congress to install Charan Singh as the Janata Party PM. A former wrestler from Uttar Pradesh and a heavyset man, who sported thick spectacles and a green cloth tied casually around his head, Narain relished a son-of-the-soil image – as far removed from Gandhi's Lutyens upbringing as it could get. However, Narain was nobility too, belonging to the Narayan dynasty, the royal family of the erstwhile Banaras State. According to the Union Ministry of Culture website, which features him among the honorees of the 75 years of Indian Independence project, Narain was a direct descendant of Maharajas Chet Singh and Balwant Singh. By the time Narain's paths crossed with Mrs Gandhi's though, he had left that far behind, becoming a follower of Ram Manohar Lohia, committing himself to socialism, virtually disowning his assets and even distancing himself from family, and dedicating himself to 'empowerment of the backward and downtrodden'. Back in 1934, when the Congress Socialist Party carved itself out as a bloc within the Congress, Narain was among those affiliated with it. After Independence, he contested and won in the first two UP Assembly elections, with his mercurial politics already on display. If, in 1952, he won from Banaras City South as a Socialist Party candidate, in 1957, it was from the Kaswar Sarkari seat in Varanasi (Banaras was named Varanasi in 1956) as an Independent. But the one constant was his adherence to Lohia's principles of 'protest' and 'agitate', no matter if they landed him in jail. Apart from the period he spent behind bars before Independence, he served at least 14 years in prison after 1947. UP was accustomed to images of policemen struggling to remove a protesting Narain as he lay prostrate on the road. It became so common for Marshals to drag him out of the UP Assembly over some protest or another that it came to be called 'the Raj Narain style of protest'. In March 1954, addressing the UP Assembly, Narain said that given caste-based discriminations, 'It is a historical necessity that the backwards and the weak will organise themselves based on caste. No one can stop this.' 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In 1973, Narain fought a bypoll from the Banka Lok Sabha seat, but again lost. By 1974, Narain was back in the Rajya Sabha from UP. He also plunged himself into the Jayaprakash Narayan Movement against Mrs Gandhi. On February 17, 1975, with the protests beginning to rattle the Congress government, Narain was among those arrested. He was taken regularly from jail to Bhushan to get an update on his case against Mrs Gandhi. On June 12, 1975, Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court delivered his order, setting aside Mrs Gandhi's election, while granting her time to move the Supreme Court. She could continue functioning as PM but not participate in proceedings in Parliament. Twelve days later, on the midnight of June 25-26, Mrs Gandhi declared the Emergency. Narain spent 19 months behind bars. When Mrs Gandhi declared surprise elections on January 18, 1977, Narain again contested against her from Rae Bareli, and defeated her this time by over 55,000 votes. In her book Indira Gandhi: An Intimate Biography, Pupul Jayakar, who was a close associate of the former PM, wrote: 'Raj Narain was a freak on the political canvas. A huge, heavy-shouldered man, a wrestler in his early years, he had emerged from the akharas of Varanasi to political notoriety. He was regarded by some as a buffoon or court jester; by others as a shrewd man of the soil.' Katherine Frank, the author of Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi, described Narain as 'the original source of all Indira's woes'. Both this shrewdness and this ability to be a troublemaker was again evident when Narain went about helping put together the Janata Party government to replace the Congress after the 1977 results. He was among those who backed Morarji Desai as PM. In the Desai cabinet, he got the Ministry of Health and Family Planning, which he renamed as Health and Family Welfare to distance it from the taint of forced sterilisation drives during the Emergency. However, Narain soon turned against Desai, accusing the Janata Party government, particularly Desai's son Kanti, of corruption. He also put the government on the edge by constantly raising the issue of the Jana Sangh members in the Janata Party continuing their ties with the RSS. On July 1, 1978, Narain was removed from the Janata Party Executive and as Union Minister. Narain then threw in his lot with Desai rival and PM aspirant Charan Singh. Due to differences with Desai, Charan Singh had earlier resigned from the government but had been wooed back with the posts of Deputy PM and Finance Minister in January 1979. Till then, Narain was seen as opposed to Charan Singh, due to the frosty ties between the latter and his mentor C B Gupta. Narain had even coined the term 'Chair Singh' for Charan Singh, considering his frequent political somersaults. But there were more tricks in Narain's bag, and he now met Sanjay Gandhi to engineer the fall of Desai. In her book on the Emergency, The Indian Express Contributing Editor Coomi Kapoor writes that Sanjay organised meetings between Chandraswami and Narain, in which Narain was persuaded to convince Charan Singh to take Congress support and topple Desai – turning the whole raison d'etre of the Janata Party on its head. Mrs Gandhi was only too happy to join in the humiliating blow to her rivals. Finally, Narain, along with Janata Party leaders like George Fernandes and Madhu Limaye, withdrew support to Desai and he resigned. But the Charan Singh government that took over, with Congress support, lasted 23 days, with the new PM resigning without even facing a floor test. Fresh elections were called, and Mrs Gandhi returned to power. In his book All The Janata Men, published during this topsy-turvy time, journalist Janardan Thakur wrote: 'Raj Narain never believes in going anywhere unless he can create a storm around himself. Legislature and Parliament are just other akharas for him to wrestle in.' Sure enough, Narain was not done. In the 1979 Lok Sabha polls, he delivered another surprise, contesting not from Rae Bareli but Varanasi, against the Congress's Kamalapati Tripathi – who was a fellow follower of socialist stalwart Acharya Narendra Dev. Before he filed his nomination, Narain even met Tripathi to seek token money to file his nomination and to get his blessings, given their common 'guru'. Narain lost. Later, Charan Singh too would feel the sharp edge of Narain's U-turns. After ties between them worsened to the extent that Singh sacked him from his Lok Dal in April 1980, Narain travelled the breadth of UP to take on Charan Singh in the 1984 Lok Sabha polls from his turf of Baghpat. An Independent, Narain secured 7.14% of the votes and came third. Two years later, on December 31, 1986, Raj Narain – by then referred to by his followers fondly as 'Lok Bandhu' – passed away. In their book Lok Bandhu Raj Narain, authors Dheerendra Sriwastava and Lalji Rai quoted Lohia as saying: 'As long as a person like Raj Narain is in this country, dictatorship can't grow here.' Charan Singh himself would acknowledge the impact of his sometime comrade in Dr Yugeshwar's book Apatkal Ka Dhumketu (Emergency's Comet). 'The political world,' he said, 'can never forget Raj Narain.'
NDTV
24 minutes ago
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Read Full Text Of Gautam Adani's Speech At Adani AGM 2025
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Their courage reminded us that: Peace is never free, it is earned. And that the freedom to dream, to build, and to lead - stands firmly on the shoulders of those who protect. ऑपरेशन सिंदूर ने बता दिया कि भारत शांति की कीमत जानता है। मगर कोई आंख दिखाए तो उसको उसकी भाषा में जवाब देना भी जानता है। As we salute our armed forces, we also bow our heads in grief for the lives lost in the tragic crash of Air India Flight 171. So many dreams were silenced in an instant. So many families were forever changed. May we therefore carry both our gratitude and our grief - as a reminder of what truly matters. The world around us has changed dramatically over the past 12 months. Over 60 nations went to the polls. Borders were redrawn, alliances tested, and economies shaken. In the Middle East, war continued to cast shadows on energy and logistics. In Europe, economic confidence stumbled. The United States had its own challenges. And yet, in the middle of all this noise, India stood apart and grew faster than any other major nation. This is not a coincidence. It is the result of vision. Of intent. Of policy. I say this with full conviction that the Indian Government, both at the Centre and across the states, has laid down the foundation for a truly historic transformation - a transformation not of a few, but for an entire nation whose best chapters are just beginning. As a youngster, I saw my mother as my guiding star. I recall her often saying: "History does not remember sailors who sailed in still waters - it remembers those who fought the wildest storms and yet returned home." कहते हैं - लहरों से डरकर नौका पार नहीं होती, हिम्मत करने वालों की कभी हार नहीं होती। And my dear shareholders, that is exactly what we have done. Even in the face of the storms and relentless scrutiny, the Adani Group has never backed down. Instead, we proved that true leadership is not built in sunshine. It is constructed in the fire of crisis. This was tested again last year, when we faced allegations from the US Department of Justice and the SEC relating to Adani Green Energy. Despite all the noise, the facts are that no one from the Adani Group has been charged with violating the FCPA or conspiring to obstruct justice. We live in a world where negativity often echoes louder than the truth. And as we cooperate with legal processes, let me also restate that our governance is of global standards, and our compliance frameworks are non-negotiable. And our numbers tell their own story. Even in a year of turbulence, we saw record-breaking revenue, unprecedented growth and historic profitability. We are proof of a Group that dares to dream beyond constraints and powered by a nation that breathes possibility into every tomorrow ahead of us. Therefore, I say: मंजिलें क्या है, रास्ता क्या है... हौसला हो तो फासला क्या है। In FY25, our numbers were strong. Across all our sectors, we did more than just scale. We created impact, inspired change, and most importantly, deepened our national commitment. Let me walk you through a few examples of our progress: • Adani Power crossed 100 billion units of generation. A scale never before matched by any private sector company. It is now well on track to reach 31 GW capacity by 2030. • Adani Green is building the world's largest renewable energy park - right here in India and visible even from space. From Khavda to the world, our target of 50 GW by 2030 is proof that scale and sustainability can coexist. • In fact, when we combine our thermal, renewable and pumped hydro generation capacities, we expect to have a 100 GW capacity by 2030. • Adani Energy Solutions handled smart metering, high-voltage links and is keeping India's grids future-ready. It secured close to ₹44,000 crore in transmission orders and is executing ₹13,600 crore worth of smart metering projects. • Adani New Industries is building electrolyzers and solar modules at global scale, aligned with India's green goals. It is on track to expand its solar module manufacturing lines and will have a 10 GW integrated solar module manufacturing facility in place by the next financial year. • Adani Ports handled a record 450 MMT of cargo and became the beating heart of India's trade. With marine, trucking, warehousing, and even freight forwarding, we are creating a transport utility for the future. And in line with the Hon'ble Prime Minister's Gati Shakti Mission our logistic assets are powering MSME exports and reducing friction to increase India's global competitiveness. • Natural Resources produced a record 47 million tonnes of coal and iron ore and is on track to achieve over 30% growth by FY26. We also pioneered India's first hydrogen-powered mining truck. • Two and a half years ago, when we acquired Holcim's India cement business, we had made a bold commitment - to double our capacity to 140 MTPA by FY27-28. Today, I am proud to share that we have already achieved 72% of that target and crossed the 100 MTPA milestone. The fact is - we don't just build businesses. We build India's capabilities. • Adani Airports also had a massive year of growth. We handled a record 94 million passengers in FY25. We also completed the first test flight at the greenfield Navi Mumbai Airport. This airport will open later this year with an initial passenger capacity of 20 million, of what will then become a 90 million passenger airport, giving us a 35% share of India's airport passenger traffic. • When it comes to Adani Defence - Operation Sindoor called, and we delivered. Our drones became the eyes in the skies as well as the swords of attack, and our anti-drone systems helped protect our forces and citizens. As I have always believed - we don't operate in safe zones. We operate where it matters - where India needs us the most. • And the same applies to building the data centres India needs to stay competitive and secure. We have projects exceeding hundreds of MW in various stages of construction with the global hyperscalers - and have also launched gigawatt-scale renewable-powered data centre campuses across multiple states. • Coming to Adani Total Gas, this business now serves 1 million PNG customers and runs 3,400 EV charging stations across 22 states. This is real climate action, not just climate talk. • But perhaps our most transformative project is unfolding in Dharavi - Asia's largest slum, now being reimagined as India's most ambitious urban rehabilitation project. Our Dharavi Social Mission is uplifting youth through skilling, healthcare and employment programs. And over 1 million people will move from narrow lanes to a township that will feature spacious layouts, dual toilets, open spaces, schools, hospitals, transit hubs and parks. In terms of consolidated numbers, at the Group level, revenues grew by 7%, EBITDA by 8.2%, and our Net Debt-to-EBITDA ratio remained healthy at 2.6x. Total revenues were ₹2,71,664 crore and our adjusted EBITDA was ₹89,806 crore. And, as I have stated in the past, our objective is: Not to just build businesses - it is to create new possibilities. Not just to serve markets - but to serve our nation's destiny. Not to chase valuation. But build valuation - brick by brick. And in this context our capital investment across businesses is set to break all records. We anticipate an annual CAPEX spend of $15-20 billion for the next 5 years. These are not just investments in our Group, but investments in the possibilities for doing our part to build India's infrastructure. And before I start wrapping up, let me outline some of the programs that have me the most excited. Exactly three years ago, on my 60th birthday, my family pledged ₹60,000 crore to redefine healthcare, education, and skill development in India. The Adani Healthcare Temples are our first major step - world-class, affordable 1,000-bed campuses in Ahmedabad and Mumbai with medical colleges, research centres and wellness spaces all integrated together. Mayo Clinic is our partner in guiding us to create a future-ready, AI-powered, patient-first healthcare ecosystem. In parallel, we have committed ₹2,000 crore to build a world-class skill university and finishing school in Mundra, designed to empower youth from across India. Through Schools of Excellence, global certifications and partnerships with leaders like ITEES Singapore and IGCC, we aim to create an industry-ready workforce. And finally, let me end by talking about our participation at the Maha Kumbh Mela. Over 650 million people came together, not as strangers, but as - One soul. One purpose. One heartbeat. Along with ISKCON, the Adani Group initiated the Mahaprasad Seva, offering free meals to lakhs of devotees. More than 5,000 of our employees volunteered, reflecting the values we cherish. At the Triveni Sangam, I had the honour of performing the sacred Ganga Aarti with my family - and for the Adani Group to be part of this event was one of the most moving days of my life. Let me conclude by saying that a nation's future is not written in policy documents - it is written in the risks its entrepreneurs dare to take. We are not laying concrete. We are laying conviction - highways that carry ambition, ports that ship hope, and grids that light up futures. And history should remember us - not for the size of our balance sheet, but for the strength of our backbone. Not for the markets we entered, but for the storms we handled and emerged stronger. For it is easy to lead in sunshine, but true leadership is forged in the face of crisis. कई मोड़ आए, कई तूफ़ान गुज़रे, पर कारवां रुका नहीं... क्योंकि आप साथ थे। I promise you that the legacy of the Adani Group will not be reflected in the height of the towers it builds - but in the height of the beliefs we execute on. That is our truth. That is our promise. Thank you for being on this journey with us. The greatest chapters of our story are still ahead. Jai Hind. भारत माता की जय।
