NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday reposted a thread which compared his ideological tendencies with that of Rahul Gandhi’s. The thread called the leader of opposition’s rural policies “devastating”, while that of Tharoor’s more aligned with the “background, political language, and audience.”Tharoor called the analysis “fair, and reflective of a certain perception of the current reality.” The post also called the Congress party “Rahul Gandhi represents a different strategic turn: Congress’s post-2010 attempt to reposition itself as a rural, grievance-driven mass party to counter BJP dominance. This was a reactive, yet devastating shift that can be shown through the electoral results themselves,” the thread posted by X account Civitas Sameer read. “The most ironic part of it all is that the individual leading this rural turn is among the most elite and insulated figures in Indian politics. Born into a dynastic family, symbolic rural politics without lived or organisational depth lacks any credibility,” it continued.The post then went on to contrast Rahul with Tharoor saying: “Tharoor, by contrast, shows alignment between background, political language, and audience. His increasing focus on SM platforms (particularly Instagram) and digital media reflects awareness of political fit, not ideological drift.””Tharoor has not engaged in a ‘rightward shift’ as many on the Congress party side make it out to be. He was a proud Hindu from day one for his own reasons (whatever it may be) and even wrote a whole book about it called ‘Why I am a Hindu’,” it further said.Though the post noted that Tharoor was being sidelined within the party, it clarified that it wasn’t “an endorsement of Tharoor’s worldview.””Many on the Right are merely noticing it now because of the reactive ostracisation efforts of the mainstream INC. Like the urban technocratic leaders of the past, he is being sidelined by this new INC. However, this is not an endorsement of Tharoor’s worldview. It is an observation that he understands limits, while INC as a party does not. INC today is neither a credible urban reformist party nor a serious rural mass party. It has abandoned one without successfully transforming,” it said.”Thank you this thoughtful analysis. There has always been more than one tendency in the party; your framing is fair, and reflective of a certain perception of the current reality,” he said.The post also called the Grand Old Party “neither a credible urban reformist party nor a serious rural mass party.””However, this is not an endorsement of Tharoor’s worldview. It is an observation that he understands limits, while INC as a party does not. INC today is neither a credible urban reformist party nor a serious rural mass party. It has abandoned one without successfully transforming,” the post said.
