Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has once again stirred unease within his party after publicly applauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a post on X, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said he attended a closed-door event in Delhi where the Prime Minister delivered a speech centred on India’s rising global stature and the need to break free from colonial thinking.

According to Tharoor, the Prime Minister argued that India should no longer be viewed merely as an “emerging market”, but as an “emerging model” – a country that has demonstrated economic resilience through the pandemic and ongoing geopolitical conflicts such as the war in Ukraine.

Tharoor quoted the Prime Minister as saying he was often accused of staying in “election mode”, but that his real motivation was an “emotional commitment” to resolve the people’s problems. The PM, he said, spoke at length about the damage done by colonial-era education policies and urged the nation to embark on a decade-long mission to reclaim cultural pride, indigenous knowledge and Indian languages.

The Congress MP described the address as both an economic vision statement and a cultural rallying cry, adding that he was “glad to have been present”. Images from the venue showed him seated with BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad and former Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Much of the Prime Minister’s speech centred around Thomas Babington Macaulay — the British administrator whose education reforms in 1830s India replaced traditional learning systems with English instruction. The PM accused Macaulay of severing India from its heritage and leaving generations of Indians with a “sense of inferiority”.

Tharoor’s admiration for the speech is expected to revive criticism within the Congress, particularly since he has praised the Prime Minister several times in recent months. Relations between Tharoor and the party have been tense since he was selected to represent India in diplomatic outreach following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack — a role that saw him interact closely with PM Modi and other global leaders, prompting internal speculation about his political loyalties.

His earlier remarks appreciating the Prime Minister’s leadership after “Operation Sindoor” had already led to strong pushback from party colleagues. Though rumours of a defection to the BJP gained momentum, Tharoor has insisted repeatedly that acknowledging the Prime Minister’s actions does not indicate any intention to switch sides.

Tharoor also reminded critics that he has been a committed Congress member for 16 years. Still, the friction is not new — he was part of the ‘G-23’ group that demanded internal reforms, and he even contested the Congress presidential election.

More recently, he penned an article titled Indian Politics Are a Family Business, where he examined dynasty-driven political structures, including those within the Congress and several regional parties — another move that raised eyebrows within his organisation.