"....some people say that Modi comes first," Kharge taunts Shashi Tharoor; Kerala MP responds saying - "Don't ask permission to fly .... sky belongs to no one"

 The cold war in Congress related to Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor is becoming obvious by the day.  

Congress President Malikarjun Kharge slammed Tharoor, who recently led an all-party delegation abroad for India's Operation Sindoor outreach, for calling PM Narendra Modi a "prime asset for India".  

"Shashi Tharoor's language is very good. That is why he has been kept in the Congress Working Committee. I said in Gulbarga that we spoke in one voice, that we stood together for the country. We stood together in Operation Sindoor. We said that country first, but some people say that Modi comes first, country comes later. So, what should we do?" the Congress chief said.  

Soon after Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge took a dig at Tharoor for repeatedly praising Modi, the Thiruvananthapuram MP on Wednesday shared a famous quote amid a rift with the grand old party.

The quote shared by Tharoor on X said, 

'Don't ask permission to fly. The wings are yours, and the sky belongs to no one'. 

This means that individuals should always be encouraged to pursue their goals without seeking approval from others.  

Tharoor has clarified that Operation Sindoor's global outreach was not a sign of his "leaping to join" the BJP, but a statement of national unity, interest and standing up for India.

Tharoor's remarks during the outreach were met with severe criticism by his Congress colleagues, especially after he snubbed the surgical strikes conducted during the UPA regime and praised the Modi government's handling of the situation. The veteran MP, however, clapped back and accused the "critics and trolls" of distorting his views, stressing he had "better things to do".

His latest praise for the Prime Minister came days after he admitted to differences with the Congress brass, even as he downplayed any rift with the leadership or cadre.

Shedding light on President Donald Trump's repeated claims of the US brokering peace between the two nations, Congress MP and leader of the delegation to the US, Shashi Tharoor has said earlier -- 

"India didn't need persuading to stop. No one needed to tell us to stop because we were telling them the moment Pakistan stops, we are prepared to stop. 

So if they, in turn, told the Pakistani, You better stop because the Indians are willing to stop and that was what they did. And that's a wonderful gesture on their part."  

Leader of the Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi stirred a political storm on Tuesday when he alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "surrendered" following a call from Donald Trump. 

He went on to draw comparisons with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, citing that she never backed down in 1971 despite pressure from the US.