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Congress leader Supriya Shrinate had earlier questioned Tharoor’s appreciation for the Prime Minister’s speech, saying she “didn’t find anything… worth appreciating.”
Senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. (Image: PTI)
Shashi Tharoor’s recent praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi has triggered discontent within the Congress, with several leaders questioning his remarks and demanding clarity.
Senior leader Sandeep Dikshit openly criticised Tharoor, saying his comments were inconsistent with the party’s position and raising doubts about his political allegiance. Dikshit asked, “Why are you in Congress?” and went on to describe Tharoor as a “hypocrite” for applauding policies that the Congress fundamentally opposes.
“Shashi Tharoor’s problem is that I don’t think he knows a lot about the country… 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?” Dikshit said.
#WATCH | Delhi: On Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s tweet on PM Modi, party leader Sandeep Dikshit says, “… Shashi Tharoor’s problem is that I don’t think he knows a lot about the country… If, according to you, someone is doing good for the country by going against the Congress’s… pic.twitter.com/zhtHdllFvU— ANI (@ANI) November 19, 2025
He added, “If you really feel that the BJP or PM Modi’s strategies are working better than the party you are in, then you should give an explanation. If you are not giving one, you are a hypocrite.”
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate had earlier questioned Tharoor’s appreciation for the Prime Minister’s speech, saying she “didn’t find anything… worth appreciating.”
Shrinate said, “He should tell us what his problem is with fair journalism… So, I didn’t see any reason to appreciate him.” She added that she did not understand “how he (Shashi Tharoor) found one,” and characterised Modi’s address as a “petty speech” that criticised the Congress repeatedly.
Here’s What Tharoor Said
Earlier this week, Shashi Tharoor shared his reflections on a lecture delivered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, posting a brief analysis on X. While offering criticism of aspects of the address, he also praised parts of it, describing the speech as one that “served as both an economic outlook and a cultural call to action, urging the nation to be restless for progress.”
Tharoor noted that the Prime Minister portrayed India not merely as an “emerging market” but as an “emerging model” that has demonstrated economic resilience. He added that “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.”
Reflecting on the cultural segment of the address, Tharoor said the Prime Minister devoted “a significant part of the speech” to challenging what he called Macaulay’s 200-year legacy of “slave mentality.”
According to him, Modi appealed for a decade-long national mission to revive pride in India’s heritage, languages and knowledge systems. Tharoor concluded by saying, “I wish he had also acknowledged how Ramnath Goenka had used English to raise a voice for Indian nationalism!”
Covering day-to-day national and international news for the last nine years across print and digital. Associated with News18.com since 2022, covering innumerable big and small events, including elections and bu…Read More
Covering day-to-day national and international news for the last nine years across print and digital. Associated with News18.com since 2022, covering innumerable big and small events, including elections and bu… Read More
November 20, 2025, 08:23 IST
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