- 5/28/2025
In this episode of Newstrack, the focus is on the controversy surrounding Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's praise for the Modi government's actions against Pakistan.
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00:00Congress versus Congress
00:09Tharu's surgical strike on Congress
00:18The Uri strike in September 2015, that was already something we had not done before.
00:26Even during the Kangil war, we had not crossed the line of control.
00:30Congress openly slams modified Tharoor.
00:34Tharoor now isolated in own camp.
00:48Congress sees red over pro-Modi remarks.
00:51Congress versus Tharoor. Tough focus on news track.
00:59Good evening, you're watching news track here on India Today.
01:07I'm Akshita Nandakopal.
01:08We've been seeing for the last many months some rumblings in the Congress against Shashi Tharoor.
01:13And Shashi Tharoor very openly praising Prime Minister Modi, the Modi government.
01:17It led to endless buzz over what's really happening in the Congress camp.
01:21Now in the last few hours has become crystal clear with Congress leaders, senior Congress leaders at that one after another calling out Shashi Tharoor for his comments as part of a global delegation where he's hailed what India has done against Pakistan.
01:39Now, Congress is objecting to the words used by Shashi Tharoor, particularly when he refers to surgical strikes.
01:45We'll tell you why. What did Tharoor say? How has Congress reacted?
01:49Over the next 30 minutes, our special on the Shashi Tharoor controversy coming your way.
01:54Let's begin with the headlines.
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02:37Top BJP leadership wants to tie up with Vijay.
02:39AIA TMK also pitches for Alliance.
02:42Trump halts all new student visas,
02:51orders missions to stop new visa applications.
02:54Already scheduled visa appointments will continue.
02:57Putin's aide and former Russian President warns Trump of World War III.
03:07U.S. slams Russia for stoking fears, calls the comment unfortunate and reckless.
03:12Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is part of those delegations that's been traveling far and wide to put forth India's case against Pakistan.
03:29So Shashi Tharoor isn't making headlines.
03:31He's been in the news.
03:32But not for his viral speech against Pakistan.
03:36He's actually now facing heat from his own party.
03:39His fiery support for Operation Sindur, which is something that should be ideally above and beyond politics,
03:47has triggered a political storm within the Congress.
03:50And Congress leaders are no longer holding back.
03:52They're calling out Shashi Tharoor for the remarks that he's made in other countries while hailing India.
03:58Here's details in our report of what Tharoor said that's got Congress seeing red.
04:03We heard their crimes.
04:05And India decided that the color of the Sindur, that vermilion color on the forehead of our women,
04:13will also match the color of the blood of the killers, the perpetrators, the attackers.
04:20Shashi Tharoor salutes India's Operation Sindur.
04:26A fiery tribute, a thundering endorsement, and one that's echoing across borders, both political and geographic.
04:36Tharoor hailed India for breaching not just the LOC, but even the international border.
04:43A first in its strike against terror.
04:46Our Prime Minister has made it very clear.
04:52Operation Sindur was necessary because these terrorists came and wiped the Sindur off the foreheads of 26 women.
05:02By depriving them of their husbands and father, their married lives.
05:09In fact, there were some women who cried out the terrorists, kill me too.
05:15And they said, no, go back, tell what happened to you.
05:18But in doing so, it seems he may have crossed a line of his own.
05:27The party's Lakshman Rekha.
05:31Congress leader Udit Raj lashed out, calling Tharoor the super spokesperson of the BJP.
05:37According to him, Shashi Tharoor sounds more loyal to Prime Minister Modi than some BJP leaders themselves.
05:46Shashi Tharoor just pierwszy, the frustration was used to explain the resistance of the BJP.
05:53We were told that we are not getting the support of the BJP.
05:56If we were told about the BJP, or through all the things that are being done with the BJP,
06:01or even the sameсть of the BJP, or even the only thing that was meant to be done with the BJP.
06:03Oururers have been pushing the security of the BJP.
06:06Our beneficiaries of this first were not falling off.
06:11So all of these things have been separated.
06:13We should not be able to powest?
06:14The first thing didn't happen.
06:16Congress Media Chief Pawan Khera too joined in, reposting Udit Raad's tweet and tagging Tharoor.
06:23He highlighted the surgical strikes were conducted during the UPA era under Manmohan Singh as well.
06:30Congress veteran Jairam Ramesh too backed Udit Raad's post.
06:35Not the first time since Jairam Ramesh previously made it clear that Tharoor's stand was his own.
06:46The message from the party's top brass is loud, clear and cold.
06:54This isn't the first time Tharoor has found himself fighting his own.
07:00While he's been getting flowers from foes, he's facing fire from friends.
07:06According to sources, some Congress leaders had earlier claimed Tharoor crossed a Lakshman Rekha
07:12with his repeated remarks on the India-Pakistan conflict.
07:17In fact, his name was dropped from Congress's delegations list linked to Operation Sindur
07:23even after he accepted the centre's invite to join a multi-party diplomatic mission abroad.
07:31Speaking about his praise for Modi, that too is not new.
07:35And the Prime Minister has also taken note.
07:38Weeks ago at an event, Prime Minister Modi taunted the Congress while sharing the stage with Tharoor.
07:45So while the saffron side smiles at Shashi Tharoor's praise, the knives are out in Tharoor's own party.
08:14In this crossfire of principles and politics, one thing's clear.
08:20When Shashi Tharoor speaks, it's not just the opposition that listens.
08:25It's the Congress that flinches.
08:29Bureau Report, India Today.
08:31So this has been building up essentially within the Congress.
08:38Congress leaders, as we showed you in that report previously, have essentially said that no, this is not the party's stand, but they've stopped there.
08:45They've never actually rebuked Shashi Tharoor.
08:48Now, the reason I say it's been building up is because in the last many weeks,
08:51you've had many statements from the Congress MP, from Shashi Tharoor, where he's hailed Operation Sindur,
08:58where he's lashed out at Pakistan-sponsored terror, and he's hailed how the Modi government has handled the entire situation.
09:05You'd think that this is something that every leader will have a similar opinion on.
09:09But it's actually this opinion of Shashi Tharoor that's triggered quite a stir within the Congress party.
09:14Let's run you through some of the statements that came in from Tharoor in the last few weeks.
09:22When the nation needs my services, I am available, and I'm available for my country.
09:28To my mind, this has nothing to do with party politics.
09:32It's all to do with what our country has been through in recent times, and the need for us to present a united front.
09:41It's that, to my mind, we had reached a stage where the escalation was needlessly getting out of control.
09:48Peace is necessary for us.
09:51The truth is that the circumstances of 1971 are not the circumstances of 2025.
09:56There are differences.
09:58There was certainly a desire on the part of the terrorists to provoke communal tensions in India
10:03between the Hindu and Muslim communities.
10:06That failed spectacularly.
10:07All communities rallied around in a very united manner.
10:11And what was, again, very effective was that in the briefings that the Indian government
10:17and the Indian military gave every day during these four days of conflict,
10:23two of the military officers doing the briefing were women officers, and one of them was a Muslim.
10:28The number of tourists in Kashmir last year was double the number of tourists in Aspen, Colorado last year.
10:35So that was the kind of, not just normalcy, but growth, prosperity that the people of Kashmir were enjoying
10:45as Indians and foreigners were flocking to Kashmir for tourism.
10:50So some people decided that they would want, first of all, to attack that process of normalization.
10:59We're not interested in warfare with Pakistan.
11:03We would much rather be left alone to grow our economy and pull our people into the world
11:09that they're already getting ready for in the 21st century.
11:18And now you've got the BJP lashing out at the Congress over their criticism of Shashi Tharoor.
11:24Union Minister Kiran Rajiju has hit out at Congress for targeting Tharoor,
11:29saying, does Congress care for the country at all?
11:32Why is there anger over the fact that an MP delegation is speaking for the country?
11:38Rajiju is asking, will MP delegation speak against India abroad?
11:44And so he's referred to this as political desperation by the Congress.
11:48The fact that Congress leaders are now calling out Tharoor for heaping praise on how India's tackled Pakistan,
11:55how India's tackled terrorism in Pakistan.
11:59Rajiju is saying this is political desperation being displayed by Congress.
12:08So while all through there were murmurs of dissent within the Congress
12:14and that the leadership wasn't happy with Shashi Tharoor, it's out in the open now.
12:17So what next for Shashi Tharoor?
12:19There's of course been a lot of speculation that he could be headed to the BJP.
12:23Let's just run you through some of the options before Shashi Tharoor.
12:26Now, he could choose, of course, to stay on in the Congress,
12:29ignoring the criticism that's come in from his own colleagues.
12:32So far, despite reports suggesting he's been sidelined, he's chosen to stay on in the Congress.
12:37So he could choose to continue to do that.
12:39Or he could ditch the Congress and attempt a political switch.
12:43Now, again, there's no clear detail about whether there are feelers from the BJP,
12:48whether the BJP wants him on board.
12:50So we'll have to see whether a political switch is even an option for Shashi Tharoor.
12:54Third option, of course, is with the Kerala elections coming up next year,
12:57he could choose to wait it out of the Congress to see what actually happens.
13:02Because mind you, Shashi Tharoor did push for a larger role in the Kerala Congress.
13:07It was shot down by Rahul Gandhi.
13:09So now we'll have to see whether the 2026 Kerala elections, he'll have a role to play or not.
13:14Let me bring in Rashid Kidwai, author and political analyst on this broadcast
13:19to kind of decode what's happening in the Congress camp.
13:22Rashid Kidwai, you know, for months and you've joined us on so many broadcasts
13:26where we've spoken exactly about what's happening with Mr. Tharoor.
13:30Now you've got the Congress senior nethas not holding back,
13:34taking to social media and taking on Tharoor.
13:37This isn't a good look for the Congress, surely.
13:41Yeah, but I don't think it has crossed that Lakshman Rekha
13:44that some of the Congress people are talking of the record.
13:47This is a war of attrition going on and a lot of proxy battle.
13:51Whatever Mr. Jairam Ramesh or Pawan Khaira or Uday Raj have been saying,
13:57it is at the behalf of K.C. Venu Gopal or to please K.C. Venu Gopal,
14:02who's the ICC General Secretary in charge of the organization,
14:05a player in Kerala.
14:07A lot to do with Kerala politics where,
14:09as you're rightly describing, Mr. Shashi Tharoor tried to have a role
14:12and Shashi is quite desperate and I would say determined
14:16to have a role in Kerala elections or post-Kerala elections.
14:21And that is where, you know, he is doing it.
14:23I was hearing very carefully all his pronouncements abroad.
14:27There is nothing that he has said would warrant a disciplinary action.
14:30So it's, to the best of my understanding,
14:32this is a war of attrition.
14:33So whether, you know, the Congress will act on its own,
14:37because remember, as you rightly pointed out,
14:39the options before Shashi Tharoor are very few,
14:41because in Kerala, BJP has little or no presence,
14:44unless he's offered a MP role in New Delhi,
14:47in the Union Cabinet or something that at this point of time
14:50looks quite unlikely or far-fetched, bizarre,
14:53whichever word you want to choose.
14:55So it is the thing, you know, the Congress is going to wait and watch
14:58and Mr. Tharoor and Congress both are going to wait
15:02who will make the first move, first move of Rashid at Lakshman Rekha.
15:06So far, I think they're away from Lakshman Rekha.
15:09Okay, the Congress leadership definitely doesn't seem to think.
15:12So I'm referring to these Nethas who've been taking to social media
15:14to question Shashi Tharoor,
15:16CCing him on certain posts as well about surgical strikes and whatnot.
15:21But Rashid Kidvai, do you think,
15:23and you seem to be indicating that, you know,
15:24all of this is a result of factionalism within the Congress Party,
15:28if that is the case, and you're seeing this factionalism
15:31rather uglyly playing out on social media,
15:34shouldn't the high command be stepping in here
15:36and drawing the Lakshman Rekha even if no one's crossed it?
15:40I think you have posed a very pertinent question,
15:42but who's the high command?
15:43I think, you know, Rahul Gandhi is looking at Malika Arjun Kharke,
15:48who's the AICC president,
15:49to act or, you know, address, you know,
15:52Shashi's defense, discipline him or tame him
15:54or bring it on his side, whichever way.
15:57And Malika Arjun Kharke thinks that it is, you know,
15:59it is the political leadership of the Congress
16:01that being Gandhi who should be taking a call.
16:03So it is a lot of, you know,
16:05what we say in Lucknow,
16:06pehle aap, pehle aap kind of culture.
16:08And this will go on for a time, you know,
16:09this is a drama.
16:10It's a great sort of theatrics
16:12that is going to happen for the consumption of media.
16:16But I don't think anything drastic
16:17is going to happen in a time to come.
16:19Shashi is a very, he has a way with words,
16:21the whole world knows this.
16:22He will come and clarify.
16:24He would say that what he had said it on a purpose
16:26and this was not aimed at it.
16:28And if it was a kind of factual inaccuracy
16:31in terms of what the Congress governments
16:33had done in past, in 65 war,
16:34going up to Lahore, etc.
16:36And he will say, yes, yes,
16:37this is an error on my part
16:39and this is what has happened.
16:40So he'll clarify
16:41and he will live to fight another day
16:43within the Congress.
16:45You're saying he'll live to fight another day
16:46within the Congress.
16:47But the question also comes up here,
16:49Rashid Kitbayov,
16:50you know, we spoke of options
16:52before Shashi Tarur.
16:53Yes, they're limited,
16:54but he's got a couple of them,
16:55which is to wait it out,
16:56sit in the Congress
16:57or to just switch camp
16:59or even perhaps leave politics altogether.
17:01But for Congress,
17:02are they also reliant
17:03on having someone like Shashi Tarur,
17:05you know, eloquent,
17:06who has a certain audience,
17:08who listens for what he has to say
17:10on matters particularly like this
17:12of diplomacy?
17:13Yeah, so I think you talked about,
17:16you know, retirement.
17:17I think that's an empty threat
17:18that nobody retires
17:19into active politics.
17:21The Congress,
17:22I mean,
17:22as far as Sonia Gandhi is concerned,
17:24she views Shashi Tarur
17:26as a big asset.
17:27Remember,
17:27he fought against Malik Arjun Kharge.
17:29That makes him
17:30a principal dissident leader.
17:32He's a Lok Sabha member.
17:33I think at some juncture,
17:34if Sonia Gandhi intervenes,
17:36whole thing will become,
17:37you know,
17:37will be sorted out.
17:39But if Sonia Gandhi,
17:40you know,
17:40develops a hands-off policy,
17:43that would mean that,
17:43you know,
17:44Rahul Gandhi
17:45and Shashi Tarur
17:46have reached
17:47to a point of no return.
17:49And that is where,
17:49I think,
17:50a sort of action would start.
17:52But again,
17:53I don't see Congress
17:54issuing show-pause notice
17:55or anything like that.
17:56And Mr. Tarur,
17:57as I said,
17:58he has a way with words.
18:00He will come back to India
18:01and he'll make things,
18:02you know,
18:02pronouncements
18:03that would please
18:04a section of at least
18:05that,
18:06you know,
18:06Congress.
18:06Remember,
18:07he got,
18:07you know,
18:0815-20% of votes.
18:09I think 12% votes.
18:11Now,
18:1112% votes is huge
18:12because the entire
18:13Congress party
18:14was for Malikarjun Kharge.
18:16So,
18:16if he got,
18:17I'm forgetting,
18:19I think it was about
18:1915% of votes.
18:21It's a big thing.
18:22It would amount to,
18:23let's say,
18:24you know,
18:24if it was sort of
18:25without any pressure,
18:26that would have been
18:2730-40%.
18:28So,
18:28Mr. Tarur has a
18:29constituency,
18:30you know,
18:31not only in Kerala,
18:32because of his Nair votes,
18:33but the great Indian
18:34military class.
18:35I think both,
18:36you know,
18:36Gandhi family at least
18:37knows that Mr. Tarur
18:39is a man with some
18:40consequences.
18:41So,
18:41they would not like
18:42to part with him
18:42unless Mr. Tarur decides.
18:44Again,
18:45Mr. Tarur is an ambitious
18:46man and at the same time
18:47he's a very careful man.
18:48Unless there is a
18:49meaty role.
18:50Remember,
18:51you see,
18:51he has written a book
18:52what is to be like Hindu.
18:54He calls himself
18:55a Nehruvian.
18:56It is very difficult
18:57in terms of ideological,
18:58the kind of,
18:59you know,
19:00pronouncements that are made.
19:01You remember
19:02Madhya Pradesh,
19:03BGP minister
19:04making a comment
19:05about Sophia Qureshi.
19:06I think it would be
19:07very difficult
19:08for Shashi Tarur
19:09to side
19:10with the BGP
19:11in a jiffy.
19:12Let's see.
19:13Let's see what happens.
19:14But never say never
19:15in politics,
19:16clearly.
19:17Because,
19:17you know,
19:18with the way
19:19Mr. Tarur
19:19has been making comments,
19:20not just now,
19:21but previously too,
19:23where he's heaped praise
19:24on the Modi government,
19:25there has been speculation
19:26about what really
19:27could happen.
19:28Look,
19:29the Gandhis at this point
19:30haven't really cracked
19:30the whip on the Congress,
19:31but they haven't also
19:32been listening to some
19:33of the grievances
19:34that Tarur
19:35has spoken of.
19:36Whether it's about
19:37leadership,
19:38whether it's about
19:39his role in the Kerala Congress,
19:40Rahul Gandhi,
19:41our sources have suggested,
19:42has always kind of ignored
19:44what Tarur has had to say
19:45about his push
19:46for a bigger role
19:48in the Congress.
19:48Thank you very much,
19:49Mr. Rashid Kidwai,
19:50for joining us
19:51on this broadcast.
19:53We will, of course,
19:53continue to track
19:54the big political takeaways
19:56from Shashi Tarur's address
19:58and how the Congress now
19:59is publicly taking on
20:01Shashi Tarur,
20:02rebuking him
20:02for the comments
20:03that he's made,
20:04particularly on the
20:05surgical strike,
20:06saying it's the first time
20:07that we conducted
20:08a surgical strike.
20:08So the Congress
20:09attempting a fact check
20:10of sorts,
20:11saying no,
20:11it's not the first time
20:12it happened
20:12under Manmohan Singh's
20:13leadership as well.
20:15This is going to continue
20:16to play out
20:16rather in an ugly way
20:18for the Congress.
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