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BJP leader Baijayant Jay Panda on Monday took a dig at the Congress, saying the party is not allowing its own member and noted orator Shashi Tharoor to speak in Lok Sabha.
BJP leader Baijayant Panda. (X)
BJP leader Baijayant Jay Panda on Monday took a sharp dig at the Congress during the Lok Sabha debate on Operation Sindoor with a special mention of Shashi Tharoor.
While participating in a special discussion in the Lok Sabha on ’India’s strong, successful and decisive Operation Sindoor in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam’, the BJP MP took a jibe at the grand-old party saying that it is not allowing its own member and noted orator Shashi Tharoor to speak in Lok Sabha.
“It would have been fun if you (Congress) had given a free hand. Many of your leaders speak really well. My friend Shashi Tharoor speaks really well, but his leadership does not allow him to speak on behalf of the party. But I felt really good that no one could stop him from speaking in favour of the country…” he said as quoted by news agency ANI.
#WATCH | BJP MP Baijayant Panda says, “It would have been fun if you (Congress) had given a free hand. Many of your leaders speak really well. My friend Shashi Tharoor speaks really well, but his leadership does not allow him to speak on behalf of the party. But I felt really… pic.twitter.com/kDNZkm76aH— ANI (@ANI) July 28, 2025
the Congress party’s list of speakers for the Lok Sabha, which includes leaders like LoP Rahul Gandhi and MPs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Gaurav Gogoi among others, became the Centre of attention ahead of the debate as Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari, both part of Centre’s multi-party delegations abroad, were missing from the list of speakers.
According to sources, the Congress asked its Thiruvananthapuram MP Tharoor if he was interested in speaking during the debate on Operation Sindoor in Parliament, but the latter declined.
There has been intense speculation on whether Tharoor, who led a delegation to the US, among other countries, will be picked as a speaker by the Congress given his enthusiastic endorsement of the government’s action following the Pahalgam terror attack, which reportedly soured his ties with the party.
Tharoor had emerged as one of the most articulate voices to present India’s position during Operation Sindoor as well as its diplomatic offensive against Pakistan at the global stage following the Pahalgam attack
(With inputs from agencies)
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More
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