Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has asserted that the nation must come first and political parties are merely vehicles to build a better country, the remark raising eyebrows at a time speculation is rife about his differences with the party.
Tharoor was addressing a gathering at the launch of a business school in Kochi on Saturday, where he spoke on “Peace, Harmony and National Development”.
A day after the Thiruvananthapuram MP landed in Kerala following his fortnight-long sojourn in the US, he posted a video on social media from the event where he is seen responding to a high school student’s question about his rift with the Congress.
Tharoor maintained that he had been keeping away from political debates in public for quite some time. But when the student aired the “inevitable question”, he felt that he deserved a response.
“Politics is, unfortunately or otherwise, in any democracy, about competition. And as a result, when people like me say that we respect our parties, we have certain values and convictions that keep us in our parties, but we need to cooperate with other parties in the interest of national security… sometimes the parties feel that is disloyal to them. And that becomes a big problem,” Tharoor said.
Tharoor’s standoff with the Congress began with the launch of Operation Sindoor. Much to the displeasure of the Congress, Tharoor was chosen by the Narendra Modi government to head an international outreach delegation following the conclusion of the military offensive against Pakistan. This prompted the Congress leadership to issue warnings to Tharoor. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge even took potshots at the MP, saying: “For the Congress, it is country first, but for some people, it’s Modi first.”
In response to the student’s question on Saturday, Tharoor recalled that a lot of people had been critical of him because of the stand he had taken to support the country and its armed forces following Operation Sindoor.
“But I will stand my ground because I believe this is the right thing for the country. And when I speak of India, I speak for all Indians, not just those who may like my party,” Tharoor is seen saying in the video.
Tharoor also quoted former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s famous statement: “Who lives if India dies?”
“And that’s a question to which there is no answer. India must come first. Then only can we all live,” Tharoor concluded.