New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor stirred up the hornet’s nest within his party yet again on Saturday by pointing to how political opponents should behave in a democracy.
Pointing to the meeting between US president Donald Trump and New York city mayor Zohran Mamdani, Tharoor said: “this is how democracy should work” and added that he would “love to see more of this in India.”
While Trump and Mamdani had sharp exchanges during the mayoral campaign, their Friday meeting at the White House was a warm one.
“Fight passionately for your point of view in elections, with no rhetorical holds barred. But once it’s over, and the people have spoken, learn to cooperate with each other in the common interests of the nation you are both pledged to serve,” Tharoor wrote, noting that he was attempting to achieve a similar dynamic in India.
The Congress will certainly not like this, given the fact that it leaves no stone unturned in criticising the government for nearly anything and everything it does.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the meeting had been “very productive,” expressing hope that New York would “hopefully have a great mayor.”
He went on to praise Mamdani, saying he was “confident” the Democrat would do a “good job” and might “surprise some Conservative people.”
When a reporter asked Mamdani if he would reaffirm his earlier comment describing Trump as a “fascist,” the President interjected with a quip, telling him he could respond in the affirmative.
“That’s okay, you can say it. It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind,” Trump remarked.
Tharoor has been known to cause discomfort for the Congress with his open-minded approach. A staunch defender of Operation Sindoor, the Thiruvananthapuram MP appreciated the government’s decision to send teams of MPs to nations across the world to explain India’s stance after the four-day military conflict with Pakistan.
Recently, he had praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address at the Ramnath Goenka Lecture. In a post on X, Tharoor described Modi’s speech as both an economic outlook and a cultural call to action. He wrote that he was “glad” to attend the event “despite battling a bad cold and cough.”
His remarks drew sharp reactions from party colleagues. Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit labelled him a “hypocrite,” while Supriya Shrinate said she found nothing “praiseworthy” in the Prime Minister’s address.
The former diplomat had also caused severe unease within the party through his article for Project Syndicate, titled ‘Indian Politics Are a Family Business’. He had argued that dynastic politics permeated all major political parties and described it as a “grave threat” to Indian democracy in that piece.
