Shashi Tharoor sticks to his guns on PM Modi

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has refused to budge from his stand praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Replying to the notice given by KPCC president Mullapally Ramacha-ndran, Dr Tharoor asked him to verify his speeches in parliament against Modi and point out at least one MP from Kerala who had made such efforts.

Mr Ramachandran had sought an explanation from Dr Tharoor on Tuesday saying that a person of his stature should not have tried to ‘justify’ Mr Modi’s actions.

Dr Tharoor expressed ‘astonishment’ over Mr Ramachandran using the word ‘justify’ and said that he had intervened in parliament over 50 times and spoken against 17 bills with “courage and conviction.”

“Can any of my critics from Kerala say they have done so? Who on earth can credibly accuse me of a ‘volte face’ from the stand I took when I sat alongside you in the last Lok Sabha?” asked Dr Tharoor in his letter to the KPCC chief.

Dr Tharoor’s initial tweet on Mr Modi had said: “As you know, I have argued for six years now that @narendramodi should be praised whenever he says or does the right thing, which would add credibility to our criticisms whenever he errs. I welcome others in the Opposition coming around to a view for which I was excoriated at the time.”

Dr Tharoor explained that it was not a praise for Mr Modi, but an argument for the Congress. Senior Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Abhishek Singhvi and he had raised their objections to Mr Modi. He added this point was highlighted to enhance the credibility with ‘fair-minded’ voters who abandoned the Congress for the BJP but should be brought back again at the national level.

He concluded saying that since he is not a member of any other party forum, he had to raise the issue before the public platform.

Dr Tharoor supported Rahul Gandhi’s tweet on Kashmir saying it is India’s internal issue and that Pakistan or any other foreign country should not interfere there.