Jammu: Senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has found himself at the center of a fresh controversy within his own party. The rift widened following Tharoor’s recent visit to Srinagar for the Nalanda Dialogues, during which he held a high-profile meeting with Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at Lok Bhavan.
Taking to the social media platform X, Tharoor shared a photograph from the meeting and noted that their discussions touched upon the local landscape and “the encouraging progress towards normalcy.” Tharoor remarked that despite remaining hurdles, the outreach initiatives observed during his visit left him feeling more optimistic about the region’s trajectory than he had been in recent times.
Regional Congress Unit Fires Back
The upbeat assessment from the veteran leader quickly drew sharp criticism from the regional wing of the Congress party. The Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) openly expressed its dissatisfaction with Tharoor’s itinerary.
JKPCC spokesperson Ravinder Sharma publicly questioned the MP’s choice to bypass local citizens and party workers. Sharma noted that the people of Kashmir expected Tharoor to engage with them directly to gain an accurate understanding of ground realities. Furthermore, the spokesperson stated that Tharoor should have allocated time to meet with his own party colleagues, who have spent years protesting the revocation of statehood.
Escalating Tensions Following G7 Commentary
This territorial friction follows closely on the heels of a separate public disagreement between Tharoor and the central Congress leadership over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s diplomatic engagements at the G7 summit. Tharoor had drawn ire from his party after expressing appreciation for PM Modi’s reported stance on ensuring the safety of commercial seafarers during high-level meetings. Tharoor asserted that civilian sailors should not become military targets during wartime, framing the issue as an essential humanitarian concern.
However, Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera launched a direct counterattack against the Kerala MP. Khera stated that Tharoor’s apparent admiration for the Prime Minister had “transcended the limitations of the physical world,” mockingly suggesting that the MP was capable of hearing statements that PM Modi never actually uttered. Khera pointed out that the official Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) readouts from the G7 sidelines contained no record of the Prime Minister challenging international leaders over maritime security incidents involving Indian citizens.
Tharoor Defends His Sources
Refusing to back down, Tharoor countered the criticism by providing links to published media reports that detailed the maritime discussions. He emphasized that he possesses a wide reading habit and accurately retains information, adding that he has never been accused of distorting facts throughout his career.
Defending his summary of the print media reports, Tharoor lamented that certain factions appeared more invested in securing partisan political points than addressing the core national concern of protecting Indian lives on global sea routes.
Recently he even asserted the media by talking about his objective. He said, “I have only talked about calling on the Governor. I have not had a chance to see other things or listen to other people’s voices. I want to make it very clear that this is not a visit about assessing the conditions in the Kashmir Valley. The committee is here to study three issues: Indo-Pak relations, Sino-Indian relations, and the functioning of passport offices and passport seva kendras. These are the only issues we are studying. We are not here to look at domestic matters; that is not our mandate. We are the External Affairs Committee.”
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