BJP Leader's Takedown Of Rahul Gandhi, Silent Thumbs Up For Shashi Tharoor

The number of Shashi Tharoor's sympathisers and admirers in the BJP shows an uptick as his disagreements with senior Congress leadership pile up. His latest supporter is Tamil Nadu leader K Annamalai, who in a post on X today, drew a comparison between him and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over their comments on trade with the US and Donald Trump's imposition of 25 per cent tariff. 

While Mr Gandhi asserted that the Indian economy is "dead", Mr Tharoor's response was nuanced. Mr Annamalai, while being vociferous in his takedown of Mr Gandhi, made his approval of Mr Tharoor's comments clear.

"I came across remarks by two Congress leaders on the same topic today. One spoke for India's Interest, and the other spoke in a tone that would please his offshore masters," read Mr Annamalai's post on the issue. 

"When the world acknowledges India as the only bright spot on an otherwise dark horizon, here is the leader of the opposition who feels otherwise. LoP Thiru Rahul Gandhi avl continues to wear ignorance like a badge of honour. He is blind to India's rise, yet ever eager to echo foreign voices that undermine it," he added.

I came across remarks by two Congress leaders on the same topic today. One spoke for India's Interest, and the other spoke in a tone that would please his offshore masters.

When the world acknowledges India as the only bright spot on an otherwise dark horizon, here is the… pic.twitter.com/qejp39fAFF

— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) July 31, 2025

Mr Tharoor said India has other options besides the US. "If we can't compete in America, we may have to diversify our markets outside of America. We are not out of options. If America is completely unreasonable with its demands, we have to move elsewhere. That is the strength of India; we are not a totally export-dependent economy like China," he said.

On the trade negotiations between the US and India, he said, "It is a challenging negotiation. We are negotiating with many countries. The US is not the only negotiation. We have ongoing negotiations with the EU, we already concluded a deal with the UK, and we are talking with other countries also... If a good deal is not possible, we may have to walk away". 

What had initially started as Shashi Tharoor's rift with the Kerala Congress has spread and a strong message came from Delhi when the career diplomat who had worked with the UN was not picked for the Centre's all-party delegations for the international outreach on Operation Sindoor. 

It did not help when Mr Tharoor, in the run-up to the visit and after, was vocal with his support for Operation Sindoor. 

While the Congress did not stop him from leading a team to the US, there have been criticism, there was speculation that the party was less than pleased after he was not picked to speak in the special debate in parliament about the operation. Sources, though, had said that Mr Tharoor was asked if he would speak and he had declined. 

But earlier this week, BJP leader Baijayant Jay Panda took a dig at the Congress, saying the party is not allowing its own member and the noted orator to speak in Lok Sabha.

Even PM Modi took a dig at the Congress over this during his response to the discussion, speaking of "some (being) stopped from speaking in parliament" and "those who consider themselves the sons of Congress become unhappy if you praise India".

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