Days after sharing a cryptic social media post believed to be directed towards his party, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday reacted to the issue amid speculations of a growing rift with the grand old party.
Tharoor dismissed talking about any speculations of rift publicly, saying, “If there are issues to discuss, they would be discussed privately.”
Responding to questions on the cryptic post on X, Tharoor said, “I am not going to get into political issues here. If there are issues to discuss, they would be discussed privately and when the time comes, I shall do so.” The Congress MP made the remark during an event in Ahmedabad.
During the event, Tharoor spoke of the diplomatic outreach after Operation Sindoor, saying that the foreign countries were clearly told that in case of a fresh provocation, India would repeat its action.
{{/usCountry}}During the event, Tharoor spoke of the diplomatic outreach after Operation Sindoor, saying that the foreign countries were clearly told that in case of a fresh provocation, India would repeat its action.
{{/usCountry}}"In other places, we actually were able to get some very high-placed people to say not only that they respected and supported India's right of self-defence, but they actually commended the restrained manner of our response, that we could have been much worse...So I would say that, by and large, they were all very understanding," the Congress leader said.
"But I would usually end by conveying that they should not be surprised that if this (terrorist attack) happens again, we too would do this again, and we wanted their understanding in advance. And I believe we left everybody in no doubt about our feelings and our intentions," he added.
Tharoor's cryptic post and speculations of rift
Tharoor, who has been grabbing attention for his praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, shared a cryptic post on X with an image of a bird, stating, "Don't ask permission to fly. The wings are yours. And the sky belongs to no one..."
Tharoor's post came Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge took a jibe at him saying that the party believes in the "country first" mantra, but “for some” individuals, it's “Modi first and then the country comes.”
Kharge made the remarks at a press conference in New Delhi while marking the anniversary of the Emergency period imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from 1975 to 1977.
A day after Tharoor's post, Congress leader Manickam Tagore retaliated with another cryptic post saying, "Don’t ask permission to fly. Birds don’t need clearance to rise… But in today even a free bird must watch the skies -- hawks, vultures, and 'eagles' are always hunting."
The recent exchange of cryptic posts between the Congress leaders came after Tharoor, in an article for a news daily, said Modi's energy, dynamism and willingness to engage remained a "prime asset" for India on the global stage but deserved greater backing.
The remarks likely irked the Congress party and widened the cracks in the Thiruvananthapuram MP's ties with its leadership.