Shashi Tharoor posts selfie with Piyush Goyal amid Kerala controversy

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor posted a selfie with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and the UK's Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds on Tuesday, and said the revival of long-stalled India-UK FTA negotiations was most welcome.

"Good to exchange words with Jonathan Reynolds, Britain's Secretary of State for Business and Trade, in the company of his Indian counterpart, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal," he said of their meeting at an event on Monday.

"The long-stalled FTA (Free Trade Agreement) negotiations have been revived, which is most welcome," Tharoor said on X.

Tharoor's post created a buzz among political circles as it comes amid a row over his recent article in a newspaper that drew criticism from some Congress leaders in Kerala for his perceived praise of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the state for boosting the investment climate.

Tharoor's article in an English-language daily, praising the entrepreneurial growth in Kerala under the LDF government, kicked off a political storm in the state a week ago, with the Congress questioning the basis of it while the CPI(M) welcomed it.

The BJP on Monday claimed that Tharoor's "marginalisation" in the Congress was inevitable after he contested the party's presidential election against Gandhi family "nominee" Mallikarjun Kharge.

The Congress is nothing but a "proprietorship firm" of the Gandhi family, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya had charged.

Tharoor on Sunday clarified that he did not praise the CPI(M)-led government in Kerala but instead highlighted the state's progress in the start-up sector.