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Shashi Tharoor's message for Congress? On Trump-Mamdani meet, MP says 'this is how democracy should work'
“I would love to see more of this in India — and am trying to do my part,” Tharoor said, reacting to Trump-Mamdani meet.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday reacted to United States President Donald Trump's meeting with New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, who have exchanged barbs during the recently concluded NYC mayoral election.
While both Trump and Mamdani had taken potshots at each other in the lead-up to the mayoral elections in New York, the Friday meeting between them at the White House was laced with bonhomie.
Responding to a clip from the meeting, Tharoor said that “this is how democracy should work”, while adding that he would “love to see more of this in India.”
“Fight passionately for your point of view in elections, with no rhetorical holds barred. But once it’s over, & the people have spoken, learn to cooperate with each other in the common interests of the nation you are both pledged to serve,” Tharoor said, adding that he was trying to do his part to achieve the same equation in India.
Following the meeting, at the press interaction in the Oval Office, Trump said the meeting was very “productive”, adding that New York would “hopefully have a great mayor.”
Trump was generous in his praise for Mamdani, saying he was “confident” that the Democrat would do a “good job”, and adding that he would “surprise some Conservative people.”
On a reporter's question to Mamdani on whether he would reaffirm that Trump was a “fascist”, the US President quipped that the NYC mayor could reply in the affirmative. “That's okay, you can say it. It's easier than explaining it. I don't mind,” Trump said.
Tharoor's views on the meeting received the approval of the BJP, with the party's spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla saying it was reminder to the Congress “put India First not Parivar.”
“Once again Shashi Tharoor reminds Congress to put India First not Parivar. To behave democratically and not like sore losers. But will Rahul Gandhi get the message ? One more Fatwa loading against Shashi???” Poonawalla said in a post on X.
Times when Tharoor miffed Congress
Tharoor's recent remarks have ruffled feathers within the Congress party, the latest being the Thiruvananthapuram MP's praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a post on X, Tharoor said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Ramnath Goenka Lecture served as both an economic outlook and a cultural call to action. He added that he was “glad” to be in the audience during the speech “despite battling a bad cold and cough.”
His statements drew sharp criticism from his own party, with Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit calling him a “hypocrite”. Another party leader, Supriya Shrinate, said she found nothing “praiseworthy” in the PM's speech.
Tharoor also miffed his party leaders with an article for international media organisation Project Syndicate, headlined ‘Indian Politics Are a Family Business’. In the piece, Tharoor highlighted that dynastic politics prevails across the political spectrum, and called it a “grave threat” to Indian democracy.
Following the Bihar Assembly election results, Tharoor said there would have to be “have to be some very serious introspection”. “I don't just mean introspection, sitting and thinking, but also studying what went wrong, what were the tactical, messaging or organisational mistakes,” he said, while also adding that he was not invited to campaign in Bihar.
“I was not invited to campaign in Bihar and therefore, I cannot give you any first-hand information. But I've been talking to people...” he said, adding that he had got a sense of what needed to be analysed.
