Shashi Tharoor Issues Clarification Amid Rumours Of 'Rift With Congress': 'I Discovered What People...'

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is facing speculation about exploring other political options. He has denied being trapped by statements he never made.

Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor. (File photo)

Source : PTI

Shashi Tharoor News:  Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday dismissed media reports that suggested he was exploring other political options. Tharoor said that his comments during an interview were misrepresented, suggesting that he was looking for political "options" outside the Congress.   

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said in an X post that he had commented in an interview about having several options to spend his life in "literary pursuits". This was purportedly misrepresented as him exploring options with other parties. Later, a selfie with BJP's Piyush Goyal fueled the rumours.

4/5 among the good things:

While this kerfuffle might blow over, it has brought a lot of issues out into the open. I suddenly discovered what a lot of people really thought of me and learned from others’ speculations about options that i hadn’t ever considered exercising. Some… pic.twitter.com/NdxpiP64yc

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) February 27, 2025

I am Left Dealing With The Mess: Shashi Tharoor

Tharoor said that during an interview with a media house, he made an innocuous statement about having multiple “options" to spend his time in "literary pursuits". However, he alleged, the statement was misrepresented in political contexts. He said the matter snowballed and "I was left dealing with the mess".

He also slammed media reports that claimed that he had claimed an absence of leadership within the Congress party in Kerala and expressed his reservations.

Shashi Tharoor further said: "No one spares a thought for the days of abuse, insult, calumny (as well as unexpected support and even adulation) that came my way — all because of things I hadn’t said... But some good has come out of all this."

The "good" Tharoor was referring to was apparently what many thought about him. "I suddenly discovered what a lot of people really thought of me and learned from others’ speculations about options that I hadn’t ever considered exercising. Some people woke up to issues they had been complacent about and others found reasons to vent their feelings. Suddenly, my place in Indian politics was being discussed — in a few cases enlighteningly and with insight," Tharoor posted on X.

He, however, said that the entire story was baseless, and the spin given to his words was clearly "neither what I had said nor the intended meaning of what I did say".