AMN
The Congress Working Committee made it clear on Wednesday that it is not the time to air individual views but to amplify the party’s official stand, with some leaders later asserting that Shashi Tharoor had crossed the ”lakshman rekha” with his repeated comments on the India-Pakistan conflict.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has “crossed the Lakshman rekha” with his repeated comments on the India-Pakistan conflict, senior party sources said on Wednesday, signaling internal discontent over the high-profile MP’s remarks.
The assertion came during a closed-door meeting at the Congress headquarters in Delhi, attended by top leaders, including former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, general secretaries K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and senior leader Sachin Pilot. The meeting was reportedly called to strategise the party’s response to the escalating India-Pakistan tensions and to ensure a unified voice on national security issues.
While the Congress leadership did not explicitly name Tharoor, sources indicated that the message from the party’s top brass was clear – this is a time for amplifying the party’s collective stand, not for airing individual critiques. “We are a democratic party and people keep expressing their opinion, but this time, Tharoor has crossed the Lakshman rekha,” a senior party source said, emphasising that such high-stakes moments demand disciplined messaging.
Tharoor’s sharp critique of US stance
The internal pushback against Tharoor follows his pointed criticism of former US President Donald Trump’s recent statement on the India-Pakistan standoff. In a May 12 post on X, Tharoor had described Trump’s comments as “disappointing for India in four important ways,” arguing that they: