Congress MP Shashi Tharoor finds himself in trouble over his comments backing another Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s remarks in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Congress leader and Kerala MP, TN Prathapan, has written a letter to Sonia Gandhi, slamming Tharoor for his remarks.
From Kerala’s Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala to senior leader K Muraleedharan, multiple Congress leaders in the state have come out against Tharoor’s remark.
The controversy erupted with Tharoor coming out and supporting Ramesh over his pro-Modi remarks. Ramesh on Friday was reported to have stated that the prime minister should be praised for doing the right things.
According to reports, Tharoor supported Ramesh’s remark by saying that praising Modi for the right thing will add credibility to their criticism when the PM commits mistakes.
With byelections being declared in Pala, one of the strongholds of Congress-led UDF, Tharoor’s remark has largely irritated Congress leaders in Kerala.
TN Prathapan, in his letter to Sonia, without naming Tharoor, stated, “I really don’t get what type of narrative these leaders want to put forward while the undemocratic and autocratic regime of Modi is strengthening.”
Criticising Tharoor, he added, “The good certificates that we produced will weaken our fight to regain India.”
He also added that the Congress party doesn’t need to praise Modi to overcome certain crisis and that it will only weaken the party’s stronghold and people’s trust.
"Narendra Modi is a complete dictator and his regime is suffocating to many Indians,” Prathapan stated in the letter dated Saturday, 24 August. He also added that what Modi is doing at present was just the copying of projects and plans of earlier Congress governments.
The Congress had earlier sacked Tharoor from the position of party spokesperson in a similar situation, where he had heaped praise on the Modi government.
(The story was first published on The News Minute and has been republished in an arrangement.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)