Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, whose relationship with the Congress has been under strain following remarks perceived as complimentary towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, met party president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi for around 90 minutes at Parliament House on Thursday morning. The meeting comes amid persistent speculation about Tharoor’s future in the party and rumours of a possible switch to the BJP.
“We had a very good, constructive, positive discussion. All is good, and we are moving together on the same page,” Tharoor told reporters after the meeting.
Tharoor’s Absence From Congress Meetings
The interaction followed Tharoor’s absence from several key Congress meetings, including high-level discussions on election strategy for Kerala, his home state, which goes to polls later this year. Media reports said that Tharoor had sought the meeting to convey his concerns and perspectives, and that the party leadership has assured him his grievances would be addressed ahead of the elections.
Tensions between Tharoor and the Congress leadership appeared to intensify after the Pahalgam terror attack in April last year, when the four-time Thiruvananthapuram MP publicly praised Prime Minister Modi’s handling of the situation. His comments drew sharp criticism from within the Congress, with some leaders openly questioning whether he was signalling an interest in joining the BJP.
The strain deepened further when the BJP invited Tharoor to lead a cross-party delegation to brief friendly nations on the attack and India’s response, an invitation he accepted. Notably, no other Congress leader was included in the delegation.
Tharoor’s Growing Distance From Congress
Relations appeared to sour further in November with two separate incidents. First, Tharoor attended a private event addressed by the Prime Minister and later posted on X that the speech offered “an economic outlook and a cultural call to action.” Congress leaders Supriya Shrinate and Sandeep Dikshit publicly dismissed the speech and questioned Tharoor’s remarks. Tharoor responded by saying he had merely described the address and had not praised the Prime Minister.
The second flashpoint was an article authored by Tharoor titled ‘Indian Politics Are a Family Business’, which criticised dynastic politics — a piece that was seen as a direct swipe at the Congress and did not sit well with the party leadership. The BJP seized on the article to attack the Congress and the Gandhi family.
Despite the friction, Tharoor has consistently maintained that his statements are guided by national interest, not political opportunism. “It is not a sign of my leaping to join his party,” he said in June last year, referring to praise for the Prime Minister. “It is a statement of national unity.”
In reality, the rift has been building since mid-2022, when Tharoor was part of the G-23 group of Congress leaders that wrote to then party president Sonia Gandhi, demanding organisational reforms after successive electoral defeats, including the 2019 Lok Sabha loss. Though the group eventually lost momentum, Tharoor went on to contest the Congress president’s election, losing to Kharge, a Gandhi loyalist.
