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‘Who lives if India dies’: Shashi Tharoor quotes Nehru when asked about Congress backlash over cross-party stand
Shashi Tharoor said, “When I speak of India, I speak for all Indians, not just those who may like my party.”
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said that the country must always come before party interests. Quoting former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Tharoor said, “Who lives if India dies?” He added that national unity must override political rivalry.
Shashi Tharoor was responding to a question from a ‘high school’ student in Kochi about the backlash he has faced from his own party over his cross-party diplomatic outreach and nationalistic stance in recent times, especially after the Pahalgam terror attack.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said, “Put your differences aside when the nation is imperilled. India must come first, then only can we all live.”
Tharoor, a Congress Working Committee member, reiterated that parties are merely a vehicle to serve the nation. “To my mind, the nation comes first. Parties are a means of making the nation better,” he said. “Whichever party you belong to, the objective of that party is to create a better India in its way.”
The Congress leader’s remarks come in the backdrop of criticism he has received, particularly after leading an all-party delegation to countries like the US to convey India’s position on Pakistan and its terror links in the wake of the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.
During the global outreach, Tharoor's comments, he says, were aimed at presenting a united front of India’s government and armed forces at international forums. But the move hasn’t gone down well with some within his party.
Last month, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had indirectly targeted Tharoor, saying the Congress believed in putting the “country first”, but for “some, it is Modi first and country later.”
Shashi Tharoor says, ‘Politics is about competition’
Tharoor stressed that while parties may differ in ideology, such as capitalism vs socialism, regulation vs free market, they should all be committed to a “better, safer India.”
He added, “Politics is… about competition. When people like me say we respect our parties… but we need to cooperate with other parties in the interest of national security, sometimes the parties feel this is disloyal. That becomes a big problem.”
“A lot of people have been very critical of me because of the stand I’ve taken supporting our armed forces and our government… But I will stand my ground because I believe this is the right thing for the country,” the Congress leader said.
When asked on the sidelines of the event whether he had issues with the Congress high command, Tharoor declined to comment. “I came to give two speeches,” he said, as reported by the news agency PTI.
On a separate note, Tharoor was also asked about a survey that suggested he is the most preferred chief ministerial face of the Congress-led UDF in Kerala. “Someone forwarded it to me and I did a salute as a reply,” he said. “I did not have anything more to say. I did not comment and I am not making any comment.”
