‘Country first, party later’ for Congress but ‘Modi first, country later’ for some: Kharge’s swipe at Tharoor
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Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge takes a swipe at Shashi Tharoor, says ‘for some Modi comes first, country later’
Shashi Tharoor’s remarks praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an opinion piece published in The Hindu on June 23 sparked a fresh round of political sparring on Wednesday. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that for his party, the nation takes precedence over individuals. Mr. Kharge made the comments during a press briefing convened to counter the Modi government’s campaign marking the 50th anniversary of the 1975 Emergency.Without naming Mr.Kharge, Mr. Throor responded on social media platform X with a cryptic message. The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram posted an image of a bird, with the caption: “Don’t ask permission to fly. The wings are yours. And the sky belongs to none”
“For our party, the country comes first, but for some others, Modi comes first and the country later,” Mr. Kharge said at a press conference when asked about Mr. Tharoor’s article.
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Without naming Mr. Kharge, Mr. Tharoor responded on social media platform X with a cryptic message. The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram posted an image of a bird, with the caption: “Don’t ask permission to fly. The wings are yours. And the sky belongs to none.”
Mr. Kharge made the comments during a press briefing convened to counter the Modi government’s campaign marking the 50th anniversary of the 1975 Emergency. Responding to the reference in Mr. Tharoor’s piece that the Prime Minister’s “energy and dynamism [is] becoming a prime asset for India at the global stage”, Mr. Kharge said, “I am not very proficient in English but his language is very good and that’s why he is in the Congress Working Committee.”
“I want to say one thing — the entire Opposition said that we are with our Army that is fighting the enemy. I said first in a press conference: country is foremost, we will work together. I said party later, country first. Some people say Modi first, country later,” Mr. Kharge added.
The episode adds to a series of public divergences between Mr. Tharoor and his party leadership. While the government selected Mr. Tharoor to lead one of the seven all-party delegations for international outreach after the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, the Congress did not nominate him. Mr. Tharoor, however, accepted the government’s invitation and led the delegation to South American countries and the United States.