NEW DELHI: Mallikarjun Kharge ‘s ‘Modi first, country later’ swipe at Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday added a new chapter to the ongoing saga of an open, often bitter, fight between the Congress and its Thiruvananthapuram MP.That Congress and Shashi Tharoor are at loggerheads does not make news anymore. Since February this year, when Tharoor made his first “out-of-turn” praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his Trump meet and Ukraine war policy, we have seen the two sides locked in an open, often embarrassing, war of words.Also read: ‘Don’t ask permission’: Shashi Tharoor posts cryptic message; message for Congress top brass? Interestingly, it appeared till now that both were leaving some room for a possible rapprochement in the future. While the top Congress leadership had till now refrained from reacting directly to Tharoor’s repeated “transgressions” of the party’s political line, the Thiruvananthapuram MP on his part had only last week stated that he did have some differences with some in the party leadership, but refused to discuss them in the open.However, that seemed to have changed today when Kharge did not held himself back and took digs at Tharoor for his repeated Modi praise – the latest being an article in Hindu in which the Thiruvananthapuram MP wrote, “PM Modi’s energy, dynamism and willingness to engage remained a ‘prime asset’ for India on the global stage but deserved greater backing.”Also read: Ignored for Nilambur campaign, Shashi Tharoor’s message to Congress: ‘Strong bond with party workers, some differences with leadership’ Asked about Tharoor’s article on Operation Sindoor outreach, Kharge’s reaction was sharp and strong: “I can’t read English well. His (Tharoor’s) (English) language is very good, that’s why we have made him a Congress Working Committee member. But I want to say that the people of the opposition together said they are with the Army that is fighting (during Operation Sindoor)… We (the Congress) said the country is paramount and we will work together (with the government). We said ‘country first, party later’. Some people say ‘Modi first, country later’. What can we do about that?”Also read: ‘Prime asset for India on global stage’: Tharoor praises PM Modi again; BJP uses his remark to target Rahul Kharge also tried to play down the remarks of Tharoor directed against the party.”Whoever knows how to write, will write it, we do not want to think about that. Our target is to maintain unity in the country, to ensure the security of the country. We will keep fighting for the country, there is no need to pay attention to anyone’s words,” the Congress chief said.Pressed further on the Thiruvananthapuram MP’s comments, Kharge said Tharoor is speaking according to his will, but “we do not want to keep harping on it as we are more concerned about how to save the country”.Interestingly, this is also Tharoor’s defence for his words and actions. The Congress MP has said that his article on Operation Sindoor’s global outreach was not a sign of him “leaping to join” Prime Minister Modi’s party but a statement of national unity, interest and standing up for India.Hours after Kharge’s barbs directed at him, Tharoor responded with yet another cryptic message for the Congress leadership.The Thiruvananthapuram MP’s post on X had 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…”The differences between them seems to have reached a point of no return. Tharoor has already made it clear to the Congress leadership that he has wings and he does not need anyone’s permission to fly. So, the big question is: Will Tharoor fly? If yes, when? Well, we will have to keep an eye on the sky.(With inputs from agencies)