Shashi Tharoor crosses ‘lakshman rekha’ with comments on India-Pak conflict: Congress sources

The Congress on Wednesday took note of its leader Shashi Tharoor’s repeated comments on the India-Pakistan conflict after the Pahalgam terror attack, with sources saying that he has crossed a red line.

The sources said the Congress is a democratic party in which leaders express their views freely, but Tharoor has crossed the ‘lakshman rekha’ with his repeated comments on the India-Pakistan conflict.

They made the assertion after a meeting of senior leaders, including Tharoor, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretaries KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Sachin Pilot, among others, at its 24, Akbar Road office.

The sources said, without naming anyone, the party leadership sent a “clear message” during the meeting that this is not the time of airing individual views but for amplifying the party’s stand.

Asked about Tharoor’s comments being at odds with the party’s stand, Ramesh said at a media briefing, “That is his opinion. When Mr Tharoor speaks, it does not reflect the views of the party.”

While the Congress has heaped praise on the armed forces over the success of Operation Sindoor, it has questioned the Modi government’s decision to announce sudden ceasefire, which, ironically, was first announced by US President Donald Trump.