Congress daily takes potshots at Tharoor for praising Modi

A day after Congress leaders in Kerala warned Shashi Tharoor to stop praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi or face disciplinary action, the party organ attacked the former minister on Tuesday, throwing doubts on his loyalty to the organisation.

A stinging editorial in the Congress daily ‘Veekshnam’, without naming the target, said loyalty of those who pens “love letters” to Modi through social media and writes adulatory articles in edit pages will be suspected. The write-up, replete with oblique references to Tharoor’s expertise in foreign policy issues, concluded by quoting the Malayalam saying that “even the gold-yielding tree should be felled if it poses a threat to one’s home”.

Stating that it is rather strange that somebody who is authorised as a spokesperson of the Congress is indulging in eulogising Modi, the editorial said “seeking campus selection from the Bharatiya Janata Party by sitting in the Congress camp is nothing but sheer betrayal of trust.”

Launching an onslaught on Tharoor, Congress leaders in Kerala had on Monday warned him against praising Modi and threatened to initiate disciplinary action if he declined to fell by the party line.

The immediate provocation for the Congress leaders to take on the second term MP from Kerala capital was his positive response to Modi’s ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign.

Putting up a brave face, Tharoor had sought to set the record straight holding that he is a “proud Congressman” and had not even remotely endorsed the “Hindutva agenda” of the BJP.

Meanwhile, Tharoor, to reiterate his position that he was not endorsing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday urged the PMO to work for an India “cleansed of bigotry and hatred” for which Mahatma Gandhi had actually stood for.

“I urge @PMOIndia to also work for an India cleansed of bigotry, hatred, intolerance and divisiveness, an India that is truly clean,” he tweeted.

The leader also said Mahatma stood not only for physical cleanliness but for the cleanliness of mind and heart of people. “As my Gandhi tweets indicate, the Mahatma stood not only for physical cleanliness but for cleanliness of mind, heart, soul, spirit,” he said.