New Delhi, May 29 – In signs of growing unease within the Congress, senior MP Shashi Tharoor lashed out at party critics calling them “zealots” and “trolls” following a controversy over his comments on India’s military responses across the Line of Control (LoC).
Tharoor, currently leading the Operation Sindoor outreach in Latin America, posted a strongly worded message from Panama before heading to Colombia, defending his statements about India’s cross-border responses post-terror attacks.
“Zealots fulminating about my supposed ignorance of Indian valour across the LoC can continue — I genuinely have better things to do,” Tharoor wrote on social media. He clarified that he was referring specifically to retaliatory strikes after terror attacks, not previous wars.
While addressing the Indian diaspora in Panama, Tharoor said, “For the first time, India breached the LoC in 2016 in the Uri surgical strike… Even during Kargil, we didn’t cross. In 2019, post-Pulwama, we crossed not just the LoC but also the international border.”
His remarks sparked backlash from within the Congress. Party leaders Pawan Khera and Udit Raj accused Tharoor of undermining India’s military history and the Congress-led UPA’s record.
Khera posted a clip of former PM Manmohan Singh asserting that multiple surgical strikes had been carried out under the UPA. Udit Raj added, “In 1965 and 1971, India crossed into Pakistan decisively. Several strikes happened under UPA too — but without chest-thumping.”
Tharoor’s public divergence from the party line adds to speculation of a widening rift between the four-time Thiruvananthapuram MP and the Congress leadership.
