Congress leader Shashi Tharoor avoided the question regarding his praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has lauded PM Modi's diplomatic approach to the Ukraine-Russia conflict. He also notes that Modi can engage with both Ukrainian and Russian leaders
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00:00Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has made headlines once again for heaping praise on Prime Minister Modi
00:05and now when asked about his comments, Tharoor avoided all questions.
00:11We asked him particularly about why he chose to make these open comments,
00:16praising, lauding Prime Minister Modi.
00:18The Congress MP, however, didn't respond, avoiding all questions.
00:22This comes, remember, after Tharoor openly praised Prime Minister Modi, particularly on Ukraine,
00:28saying that I was wrong on really the government's stand on Ukraine.
00:32I have ego on my face and therefore he's lauded what
00:35Prime Minister Modi has done as far as the Russia-Ukraine war goes.
00:58So, Mr. Tharoor avoiding all of those questions.
01:12Let me bring in Rahul Gautam, who tracks the Congress closely for us.
01:15Rahul, good afternoon.
01:17Every once in a while, there's all of the speculation on what Shashi Tharoor is going
01:21to do and then he adds fuel to that fire by making comments like this.
01:25The timing of it is what's also raised eyebrows.
01:28The fact that there's been so much speculation that Shashi Tharoor
01:31has been sidelined in the Congress and now perhaps is exploring options.
01:40Good afternoon, Akshita.
01:42We all remember that how Shashi Tharoor was given an audience with Rahul Gandhi
01:47after earlier he had praised Prime Minister Modi and wrote up
01:51peace lauding left government in Kerala.
01:54Sources told us at that point of time, he was reprimanded by General Secretary
01:58Organization of Congress Party, Mr. K.C. Venugopal for making such remarks.
02:03And later, this meeting happened between Shashi Tharoor and Rahul Gandhi and
02:09it was told by Congress sources that everything has been sorted out.
02:13But it seems that again, Mr. Tharoor has landed Congress Party in an embarrassing
02:19position given the fact that the entire Congress has been trying to corner the
02:23government on the issue of foreign affairs on diplomatic front.
02:27And this is the second time.
02:29Remember earlier also, in fact, Mr. Tharoor had praised when Prime Minister had gone to US.
02:34And in fact, he put on record that this visit is going to yield results for our country.
02:40When he was asked to clarify his comment, at that point of time, Mr. Tharoor said that
02:45one should not get indulged in petty politics and should
02:50rise above petty politics when it comes to national affairs.
02:53And this time also, when he was repeatedly asked to clarify his remarks,
02:57he dodged the questions, didn't answer.
02:59And in fact, it seemed that at least Kerala Congress is certainly not impressed with the
03:04comments.
03:04I myself asked Mr. K. Sudhakaran, who is also Congress MP and Kerala Congress chief,
03:10about Mr. Tharoor's remarks, to which he said that I really have not heard these remarks.
03:15But if he had made this kind of remark, the party will examine it and then will take appropriate
03:22action.
03:22It clearly hasn't stopped Mr. Tharoor from still going ahead and doing the exact same
03:26thing.
03:26Thanks very much, Rahul, for those details.
03:28Let's play out for you exactly what the Congress MP, what Shashi Tharoor said this time
03:33in praise of Modi.
03:35Was the one person in the parliamentary debate who actually criticized the Indian position
03:40at the time back in February 22 on the well-worn grounds that Espen will understand,
03:45because he and I talked about all this in my UN days, that there was a violation of
03:48the UN charter, that there had been a violation of the principle of inviolability of borders,
03:54of the sovereignty of another state, namely Ukraine.
03:57And we had always stood for the admissibility of the use of force to settle international
04:02disputes.
04:02And all of those principles, I said, had been violated by one party, and we should have
04:06condemned it.
04:07Well, a couple of years later, three years later, it does look like I'm the one with
04:12the egg on my face, because clearly the policy has meant that India has actually a prime
04:17minister who can hug both the president of Ukraine and the president of Moscow two weeks
04:21apart and be accepted in both places.
04:24And therefore, India is in a position where it can make a difference to a lasting peace
04:30if it was so required in ways that very few countries would be able to.
04:37So that was a comment now in praise of Prime Minister Modi and the more diplomacy as it's
04:43called.
04:43But not the first time, as I said, of Shashi Tharoor making these kind of remarks praising
04:47Prime Minister Modi.
04:49Here's another comment earlier when Shashi Tharoor had praised Prime Minister Modi, but
04:54then after several Congress leaders had questioned him, he retracted a statement claiming he
04:59was misquoted.
05:00But decide for yourself if he was.
05:03So far, I must say that what we've seen from the press statements by both the prime
05:08minister and by President Trump are very encouraging because it looks like some of the big
05:13concerns we all had have been addressed.
05:16For example, on the question of trade and tariffs, they've decided to sit down together
05:21and do a serious negotiation that will conclude by the fall, which is the autumn, September,
05:25October of this year.
05:27I think that's a very good outcome, because otherwise the fear was there might be some
05:31hasty decisions made in Washington which would have affected our exports.
05:35This way, there is time to discuss and negotiate.
05:44Now, after this comment that's come in from the Congress MP, how is the BJP reacting?
05:50Well, the BJP has mocked the Congress over the fact that Shashi Tharoor is openly praising
05:55Prime Minister Modi and has said that now this is clearly Tharoor showing the mirror
06:00to Rahul Gandhi.
06:01But what about what really this means politically for Tharoor?
06:05Is he trying to kind of reach out to the BJP with these kind of comments?
06:09Well, the BJP, interestingly, is saying that our doors are open for Tharoor.
06:14So essentially, it looks like the BJP also is welcoming of the Congress MP.
07:09Okay, let's bring in Surulji Bhatt for more details.
07:30So, Surulji, the message from the BJP is clear that the doors are open for the likes of Shashi
07:36Tharoor if he chooses to really leave the Congress and join the BJP.
07:45Absolutely, Akshita.
07:47You know, Shashi Tharoor holds expertise in foreign affairs.
07:51He has served in the United Nations on important positions.
07:54He has also served as Minister of State in the External Affairs Ministry during the UPA time.
08:00The question is, was Shashi Tharoor speaking his mind?
08:04Or was he trying to send feelers to the BJP?
08:07Because in the recent past, Shashi Tharoor has been issuing statements in favor of the
08:12Modi government.
08:13And there are reports that he's being sidelined in the Congress party and he's trying to explore
08:19options.
08:19I interviewed the leader of opposition in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and senior BJP leader
08:24Sunil Sharma.
08:25And I asked a specific question to him that where the doors of the BJP open for Shashi
08:30Tharoor.
08:30To that, he said that the decision will be taken by the party high command.
08:34But BJP's doors are open for everyone, including the Congress leaders.
08:39So clearly, it's a big statement that has come from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
08:43Sunil Sharma, the leader of opposition in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, has said that
08:47BJP is ready to embrace anyone who wants to contribute to nation's development and who
08:53appreciates Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda.
08:56So BJP and Shashi Tharoor, both the question in the political circles is that are they
09:04trying to send feelers to each other?
09:06And as our colleague Rahul Gautam was also saying that there were reports that Shashi
09:12Tharoor was being sidelined in the Congress party.
09:16And this is not the first time he's praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
09:20In the past, he has also done it.
09:21And more recently, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a visit to the United States,
09:26after that also, Shashi Tharoor praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's diplomacy.
09:30And now, at the Raisina Dialogue, he has once again heaped praises on Prime Minister Narendra
09:35Modi.
09:35And that's what's led to all the speculation, the fact that he's repeatedly doing it.
09:38So we'll track the latest updates.
09:39Thanks very much, Sunilji, for those details.