Mallikarjun Kharge, Shashi Tharoor.
Credit: PTI Photos
New Delhi: Uneasiness in the relationship between the Congress leadership and Shashi Tharoor once again came to the fore on Wednesday, with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge saying they can't do much if someone feels “Modi first, country later”. The Thiruvananthapuram MP hit back with a cryptic post, “don't ask permission to fly” as “wings are yours” and “sky belongs to no one”.
Tension has been growing between both sides in the past two months with the MP praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Operation Sindoor when the Opposition was raising questions to the government. Tharoor's participation in the multi-party delegations without taking the party into confidence also rubbed the Congress the wrong way. It escalated further after Tharoor contradicted top leader Sonia Gandhi, who criticised Modi in a newspaper article a few days ago.
At a press conference, Kharge was asked about Tharoor's remarks that Modi's “energy, dynamism and willingness to engage remains a prime asset for India on the global stage”. Tharoor's article, which was shared by the Prime Minister's Office on social media, came two days after Sonia’s article.
“I can't read English. His (Tharoor’s) English is very good. That is why we made him a member of our Working Committee. But what I want to say is that all of us, the entire opposition, have come together and said we stand with our Army, our Army that is fighting, we are with them....I said the country is big and we will work together. Nation first, Party later, I said. But some people consider 'Modi first, country later'. What can we do about that?,” he said.
Queried whether the party will take action against Tharoor, he said those who want to write, they would write whatever they like. “We are not troubled by that...Our target is unity in the country, a secure country. We will continue to fight. Earlier also, we fought and we will fight in future too. There is no need to pay attention to others,” he said.
To a question whether the party is scared of taking action, Kharge said, why should the party be scared? “If he is saying so, he is saying according to his wishes…We are more worried about saving the nation. If someone has said something, ask them,” he added.
Within an hour, Tharoor posted an image of a bird with a caption, “Don't ask for permission to fly. The wings are yours. And the sky belongs to no one…”
Tharoor on Tuesday said that his article praising Modi was not his "leaping to join the Prime Minister's party as some people unfortunately have been implying". However last week, he had admitted that there is “difference of opinion” between him and “some in the leadership” while claiming that he was not invited to campaign for the party in the bypoll in Kerala's Nilambur.