Shashi Tharoor, a Congress Lok Sabha MP, responded on Saturday to criticism for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States and Kerala’s Left Democratic Front government.
“I’ve been in politics for 16 years.” My attitude has been that when someone in government, whether ours or another party’s, does the right thing or does something well, it should be acknowledged and praised; when they do something wrong, it should be criticised,” Tharoor told ANI.
“If I constantly praise, no one will take me seriously. If I constantly criticise, no one will take me seriously…There must be some give and take in democracy.”
The Congress MP also stated that, while there have been positive outcomes for the Indian people, some questions about Prime Minister Modi’s Washington visit remain.
“Why was the question of how illegal immigrants were returned to India not addressed?… Did Prime Minister Modi raise it behind closed doors?… I am pleased that an agreement has been reached to negotiate trade and tariffs over the next nine months. It’s far preferable to Washington imposing tariffs on us in a hasty and unilateral manner, which could have damaged and hurt our exports. Tharoor spoke.
The Congress MP also stated, “It appears to me that something positive has been accomplished, which I applaud as an Indian. We cannot always communicate solely in terms of party interests.
What Tharoor had said earlier
Earlier on Friday, Tharoor commented on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States, saying that major concerns were addressed during the meeting.
Tharoor stated that the two leaders’ joint press conference indicated that the talks were going well.
“To hear a man like Donald Trump, whose defence secretary yesterday (Thursday) called him the greatest negotiator in the world, announcing that the Indian prime minister was a better negotiator than he was, that sounds like something Mr Modi can put in the bank, that sounds very good,” Tharoor had previously said.”
He also wrote a newspaper article praising Kerala’s startup economy, which is led by the ruling LDF alliance. Tharoor’s praise for PM Modi and the Kerala government, however, did not sit well with Kerala Congress leaders.
According to Onmanorama, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) leadership has written to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) High Command expressing their displeasure with Tharoor.
Congressman VD Satheesan also questioned Tharoor’s data on Kerala startups.
