Shashi Tharoor (PTI photo)
NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday clarified that he has never violated the party line in Parliament, asserting that his only public disagreement in principle was over Operation Sindoor, when he led India’s delegation to countries in the Americas to present New Delhi’s position on counterterrorism and Pakistan’s role in terrorism.Responding to questions at the Kerala Literature Festival, Tharoor, as quoted by news agency PTI, said he had taken a strong stand on the issue and remained “unapologetic.”He said, “I have at no stage violated any of the Congress’ positions in Parliament; the only issue on which there has been public disagreement on principle is about Operation Sindoor where I did take a very strong stand, and I remain unapologetic about that.”His remarks come amid recent reports highlighting “Tharoor’s differences with the party leadership,” with speculation that he is upset over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi not adequately acknowledging him at a recent event in Kochi, as well as over alleged repeated attempts by state leaders to sideline him.The senior Congress leader skipped a key party meeting with the state leadership and the AICC high command on Friday ahead of the Kerala assembly polls. This was followed by reactions from party colleagues, including Sandeep Dixit, who said the Thiruvananthapuram MP was no longer “relevant” to the party.Explaining his position, Tharoor said that as an observer and writer, he had penned a newspaper column after the Pahalgam incident, arguing that the attack should not go unpunished and calling for a kinetic response.He said that while India remains focused on development, it should not be drawn into a prolonged conflict with Pakistan, and that any action should be limited to targeting terrorist camps.Tharoor added that he was surprised to see the government act in line with what he had suggested.Referring to Jawaharlal Nehru, Tharoor recalled the former prime minister’s famous question: “Who lives if India dies?”“When India is at stake—when its security and its place in the world are involved—India comes first,” he said.He added that while political parties may differ as part of the democratic process, national interest must always prevail over political differences.On the partyline differences, Tharoor also recalled the time when BJP came into power in 2014 and said, “It was even reported that the RSS ideologue Govindacharya was writing the draft of a new constitution. And yet the Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the constitution was his holy book.”
