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 the 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 the ire of Congress’ high 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 I have no option to spend time. I have options,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP told the Indian Express in a podcast.

The politician also listed his other options, most of which are work related to the field of literature.

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

Shashi Tharoor’s 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 the Congress leadership 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 with 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 praised 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 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.

"As a Congressman, I am proud that this builds on an initiative undertaken by former chief minister Oomen Chandy, who established the Start-Up Village and the State's Start-Up Mission in the first place -- which the present government has built upon," Tharoor wrote in a post on X.