Shashi Tharoor to Congress amid reports of rift with party: ‘If the party wants me I will be there, if not then…’

Amid ongoing reports of rift with Congress, senior party leader Shashi Tharoor, has made it clear that he has “options” if the party doesn’t need his service

Shashi Tharoor reportedly drew ire of Congress’s higher command for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi after his US visit. Recently, he also applauded the Kerala Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s industrial policy. 

“If the party wants me then I will be there for the party. If not, I have my own things to do. You should not think that I don’t have any option to spend time. I have options,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP told Indian Express in a podcast.

The politician also listed the other options he has, most of them are works related to the field of literature.

“I have my books, speeches, invitations from across the world for talks,” he added.

Shashi Tharoor’s reported rift with Congress

Amid clamour about Shashi Tharoor and his relation with senior Congress leaders, the parliamentarian refrained from addressing the issue on Sunday.

“No comments at all,” the Congress MP told reporters on a similar question and advised them to watch India vs Pakistan match.

 “Go watch the match; it’s an important match today,” he told media persons on Sunday. 

Shashi Tharoor’s cryptic post

Speculations related to Shashi Tharoor and this relation with Congress leader erupted after the politician shared a cryptic post on Saturday on X.

“Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise” by poet Thomas Gray,” read a post by Tharoor on X. 

Shashi Tharoor on absence of leader in Kerala’s Congress

Flagging the present situation of his party in Kerala, Shashi Tharoor said in the interview to Indian Express’s Malayalam podcast that “several workers feel that there is an absence of a leader in Kerala’s Congress.”

His comments have come ahead of the Kerala Assembly Elections set to take place in 2026. 

Earlier, in his article in an English daily, Shashi Tharoor prased the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government’s handling of Kerala’s economy. His comments sparked criticism from fellow Congress leaders in the State.

Tharoor had subsequently clarified that his article did not seek to survey the entire Kerala economy, which “remains in dire straits.” He said that he wrote about a specific subject: the changed industrial climate as evidenced by the start-up ecosystem alone.

“First of all, I wrote it as a Kerala MP on one specific subject, the changed industrial climate as evidenced by the start-up ecosystem alone,” Tharoor said.