'Hawks, vultures, and eagles are always hunting’: Congress MP Manickam Tagore's ‘birds of prey’ jibe at Tharoor amid Modi praise row

New Delhi: A day after Congress MP Shashi Tharoor spoke about a bird's freedom to fly with the sky belonging to no one, a senior party leader Manickam Tagore on Thursday warned his Lok Sabha colleague that free birds should be aware of “hawks, vultures, and eagles” preying in the skies.

Tagore's remarks came a day after party chief Mallikarjun Kharge took a dig at the Thiruvananthapuram MP for his praise of the Prime Minister. Kharge said one can't do much if someone feels “Modi first, country later”.

Sharing an image of ‘Birds of Prey: Hunter of the Sky’ on 'X', Tagore said, “don’t ask permission to fly. Birds don’t need clearance to rise…But in today’s India, even a free bird must watch the skies– hawks, vultures, and eagles are always hunting. Freedom isn’t free, especially when the predators wear patriotism as feathers.”

The Virudhunagar MP, who is also Congress Lok Sabha Whip, was responding to a post by Tharoor posted on X on Wednesday in response to Kharge without referring to the Congress president's remarks. Tharoor had 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…”

Tagore was apparently hinting at the perceived closeness between Tharoor and the BJP. The party had recently distanced itself from Tharoor's statements praising Modi in connection with Operation Sindoor.

Tension has been brewing between Tharoor and the leadership for some time, as the party felt that the MP's unilateral praise of Modi was blunting its attack on the Prime Minister. The leadership is also of the view that Tharoor is allowing the top BJP leadership to take potshots at the Congress leadership.

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.

At a meeting of Congress Working Committee members in May, Congress had pulled Tharoor up for crossing the “Lakshman Rekha” (red line) by deviating from the party line on 'Operation Sindoor' and subsequent ceasefire announcement. The party had then said that those were his “personal” views and that it is the time to to amplify the party's stand and not for espousing individual views.