Congress leader Shashi Tharoor admitted that he has some difference of opinion with the Congress party and he would discuss it with the party leaders. He clarified that the discussions held with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was only on matters related to the MPs’ delegation.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, “I have been working in Congress for the past 16 years. I have some differences of opinion with the party, and I will discuss them inside the party…Today I don’t want to speak it. I need to meet and talk, let the time come, and I will discuss it…. The discussion with the PM was only on matters related to the MPs’ delegation. When an issue arises for the nation, it is our responsibility to stand with the nation. When the nation needs my service, I am always ready.”
“I was not invited by the party (for Nilambur by-election campaign)… Yes, there may have been some differences between me and the leadership. Those can be sorted out in closed-door conversations… So far, no one has reached out to me,” said Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
He further said, “Firstly, I was gone for much of the time on this official diplomatic mission. When I returned, there was no missed call from the leadership saying that I should come (for the campaign). I took it as an opportunity to fulfil my prior commitments… I have been urging everyone to vote for my party’s candidate… The values of the institution of the Congress Party are the institutional values that have kept me in the Congress Party… I want to stress that my relationship with my brothers and sisters (Congress workers) in the Congress Party is very strong.”
On Congress leaders’ comments on US President Donald Trump’s statement, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, “Mediation implies equivalence. There is no equivalence between terrorists and their victims, between a state that dispatches terrorists and a state that repels them. There is no equivalence between a state where attacks are conducted and a state exercising its right of self-defence. Where there is no equivalence, there can be no mediation… We made it clear that if Pakistan chose to attack, we would respond to that. This message was given not just to Pakistan but to the World, if you watch the daily briefings of the Indian government and the armed forces… We never needed persuading to stop. If there were any pressure from American President Trump, that pressure would have only been on Pakistan. It would have only been on General Munir… That is something we all must understand. We welcome any pressure the Americans may have put on Pakistan, but we did not ask for it. We did not request anyone’s mediation… It was fully understood when we explained this in our delegation meetings (in the USA). I can assure you that what the Prime Minister has reported, is the same message that we ourselves had given. I personally spoke to the USA Vice President. We have been diplomatic and correct in not saying this publicly, but today I can reveal it. There is no doubt at any level of the US Administration where India stands on this matter.”
