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Shashi Tharoor absent from Congress meeting, third instance in a row as ties stay frosty
Tharoor had reportedly told party he won't be able to attend; was in Kolkata where he spoke on women's rights, his bill against marital rape; and sang briefly
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was absent at yet another meeting of his party on Thursday. This one was a meeting of the party's Lok Sabha MPs, chaired by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi. Tharoor had informed about his unavailability, news agency ANI said citing party sources on Friday.
It comes in the backdrop of Tharoor's absence from two other meetings of his party, with which his relationship has not been particularly rosy in recent months, in recent weeks. He has, however, been attending events such as a lecture by PM Narendra Modi and a state banquet for Russian President Vladmir Putin where the main Opposition leadership was not invited.
As of Friday afternoon, he had not spoken on missing the latest party meeting.
Also read | 'Engaging atmosphere': Tharoor after attending dinner for Putin
Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari was absent, too, at Thursday's meeting. Tewari's equation with the party has not been as frosty as Tharoor's, after the Congress was not particularly pleased with how the BJP-led government had, on its own, chosen them for a global outreach after Operation Sindoor against Pakistan. Tharoor led one of the delegations, and Tewari was another notable Congress MP on them.
Also read | Cong's Manish Tewari wants freedom for MPs to vote across party lines
Shashi Tharoor in Kolkata
On Thursday, Tharoor's X timeline showed, he apparently was in Kolkata, at an event hosted by a non-governmental organisation, where his family members and he were on stage together.
The former global diplomat spoke on women's rights — including his recent proposed legislation to make marital rape a criminal offence — and also sang on stage for his sister in a heartwarming gesture.
This miss comes in the middle of the winter session of Parliament that is scheduled to end on December 19.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) member was absent also from a key party meeting on November 30, just the evening before the session began. “I didn’t skip it. I was on a plane coming from Kerala. That’s all,” was his succinct reply when he was asked about it outside Parliament.
Tharoor, who lost the party presidential election to Mallikarjun Kharge in 2022, has not been on the party's list of speakers inside the House in recent times.
Before the November 30 meeting, the Kerala MP had missed a party meeting on the issue of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls. The SIR is currently on in 12 states and UTs after the party blamed the exercise for its defeat in Bihar; and has been a pet issue for Rahul Gandhi in particular.
Tharoor had cited health reasons for not attending the SIR-focused meeting.
Questions arose, though, when he was at an event where PM Modi delivered a lecture the very next day. Tharoor made social media posts praising the PM on his Instagram account.
More recently, he was the lone Congress representative invited to attend the state banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu for visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
What Congress has said on Tharoor equation
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera had taken a jibe over it: “Everyone's conscience has a voice. When my leaders aren't invited, but I am, we should understand why the game is being played, who is playing the game, and why we shouldn't be part of it.”
It's not been too long since Tharoor wrote an article listing the Nehru-Gandhi family as an example of dynastic politics that he described as determinantal to merit. He did not cite any example from BJP leaders' families in that write-up, and earned praise from the ruling party.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla called Tharoor “khatron ke khiladi” (playing with danger) for "directly calling out… nepo kid" Rahul Gandhi in that article. BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan called it a “truth bomb”.
This was after Tharoor offered profuse praises, along with birthday wishes, for BJP veteran LK Advani. He even defended Advani's political legacy that carries allegations of communalising India's politics.
Congress publicity department chief Pawan Khera later said Tharoor was speaking in his personal capacity, "like always". One Congress leader, not willing to be named, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI at the time that if Tharoor truly believed the BJP or Modi’s strategies are superior, he must explain why he remains in the Congress; otherwise, "he is a hypocrite".
