Modi-Tharoor chemistry irks Congress again

Prime minister lauds Kerala MP for Oxford speech

A day after he was pulled up by party chief Sonia Gandhi, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor earned fulsome praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, leaving many in the principal Opposition party red faced.

“Shashiji is an orator who says the right thing at the right place … sometimes such things become a turning point,” Modi said at the launch of the Speaker’s Research Initiative, which aims to help new Lok Sabha MPs prepare for Parliamentary debates. Tharoor’s recent speech at the Oxford Union debate, where he spoke about Britain owing reparations to India for colonising the country for nearly 200 years, has struck a chord with Indians.

The 15-minute video on the Union’s YouTube channel has been the toast of social media for the past couple of days.

Tharoor had earned the wrath of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and fellow MPs after his strong views at a party meeting on Tuesday against Parliamentary disruptions made its way to the media.

Though Tharoor tried to argue that he had not briefed the media on the internal deliberations, Sonia was in no mood to listen to any explanation.

“You always do this. This has become a habit with you,” an angry Sonia told Tharoor on Wednesday in the presence of senior party leaders.

The former Union minister also earned praise from Speaker Sumitra Mahajan as well. She said Tharoor’s speech was appreciated by one and all. “You spoke from your heart,” Mahajan said, as Tharoor smiled in response.

Later, Tharoor said he was “very touched and grateful” by the prime minister’s gesture. “I am grateful. He (Modi) was kind enough. He spoke with a large heart,” he said.

The Congress has in the past objected to Tharoor praising the prime minister. He was removed as Congress’s spokesperson in October.

Tharoor’s acceptance of the prime minister’s invitation to join the “Clean India” campaign and his recent praise of Modi's campaign on yoga has also not gone down well with the party. Tharoor’s “parachuting” into Congress politics after a 22-year stint at the United Nations has earned him many detractors in his home state of Kerala.

However, the two-time Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram has on more than one occasion clarified that he will never join the BJP.