Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's high praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the latest flashpoint between the grand old party and the BJP, with Congress leaders alleging that Tharoor does not know much about the country.
Tharoor had said Modi's recent Ramnath Goenka Lecture served as both an economic outlook and a cultural call to action, urging the nation to be restless for progress.
In a long social media post, Tharoor said he was glad to have been in the audience despite battling a bad cold and cough.
The Congress leader said the PM emphasised that India is "no longer just an 'emerging market' but an 'emerging model' for the world, noting its economic resilience. PM Modi said he'd been accused of being in 'election mode' all the time, but he was really in 'emotional mode' to redress the problems of the people".
A significant part of the speech was dedicated to overturning Macaulay's 200-year legacy of "slave mentality", Tharoor said.
"PM Modi appealed for a 10-year national mission to restore pride in India's heritage, languages, and knowledge systems. I wish he had also acknowledged how Ramnath Goenka had used English to raise a voice for Indian nationalism!"
Tharoor's praise for Modi did not go down well with a section of Congress leaders who sought to know why he is in the party.
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit claimed that he thinks Tharoor does not know a lot about India. "If, according to you, someone is doing good for the country by going against the Congress's policies, then you should follow those policies... Why are you in Congress? Is it only because you are an MP?"
Calling Tharoor a "hypocrite," Dikshit said if the Congress MP thinks BJP or PM Modi's strategies are working better than the party, he should give an explanation regarding this.
Earlier, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate too had hit out at Tharoor, saying she did not find anything in PM Modi's speech that was worth appreciating. "I didn't see any reason to appreciate him. I don't know how he (Shashi Tharoor) found one...I found it to be a petty speech. He criticised Congress there too. PM thinks of Congress day and night. This is amazing," she said.
Reacting to the criticism of Congress leaders, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the party should be called 'Indira Nazi Congress' instead of Indian National Congress as "they demonstrate Indira's emergency mindset and Nazi dictatorial behaviour. If somebody praises the Prime Minister's speech, which is about larger issues, then a 'fatwa' is issued against that person by the Congress, which talks about democracy in the entire country, but there is no democracy within their party."
He claimed that the Congress issues a "fatwa" against people who place national interest above "pariwaric interest." |
