Kharge’s ‘Modi first’ swipe at Tharoor. Congress MP responds ‘wings are your, sky belongs to no one’

Though Kharge avoids clear reply to whether Tharoor will face disciplinary action, he makes it clear that ties have soured to an extent that no efforts are being made to mend it.

File photo of senior Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge | ANI

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Wednesday made known the party leadership’s displeasure with Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, saying unlike the Congress’s “country first” motto, “some say Modi first, country later”.

Kharge, who faced a barrage of questions on Tharoor’s future in the Congress at a press conference held by the party to counter the BJP’s narrative on the 1975 Emergency, avoided a clear-cut response on whether the Lok Sabha MP will face any disciplinary action.

However, he left no room for doubt that the party’s ties with Tharoor have soured to an extent that no efforts are being made to mend it.

“The opposition together said they were with the armed forces that were fighting (during Operation Sindoor). We (the Congress) said the country comes above all and we will work together (with the government). We said ‘country first, party later’. But some people say ‘Modi first, country later’. What can we do about that?” Kharge said.

He was responding to a question on Tharoor’s The Hindu opinion piece on the success of Operation Sindoor’s global outreach achieved through the visits of multi-party delegations.

In the piece, published 23 June, Tharoor—who led a nine-member delegation to the US, Panama, Guyana, Brazil and Colombia—lauded the outreach, piloted by the Centre, saying it was “vital in shaping global perceptions and consolidating international support.”

Tharoor also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the piece, stating that the PM’s “energy, dynamism and willingness to engage remains a prime asset for India on the global stage, but deserves greater backing.”

The Prime Minister’s Office had shared the article on ‘X’.

At the press conference, Kharge also took a jibe at Tharoor. “I can’t read English well. His (Tharoor’s) language is very good and that’s why we have made him a Congress Working Committee member,” Kharge said. A four-term MP, Tharoor is a member of the CWC, the party’s highest-decision making forum.

Asked if the leadership was wary of the pitfalls of acting against Tharoor, Kharge said the Congress had no reason to be bothered about all that.

“There are nearly 34 working committee members, 34 permanent invitees, and nearly 30 special invitees in the CWC. People can write as they wish. We are not bothered about it. We are concerned about the country and its interests. If somebody is concerned about something else, you can ask him about that,” Kharge said.

Tharoor, who is attending the Primakov Readings global summit on international relations and world economy in Moscow, made a cryptic post on ‘X’ soon after Kharge’s remarks. He essentially posted an image of a bird with the caption: “Don’t ask permission to fly. The wings are yours. And the sky belongs to no one.”

(Edited by Tony Rai)