Absolutely not getting into that subject: Tharoor on Congress' objections on all-party delegations
New Delhi (PTI): Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday declined to join issue with some opposition parties, including his own, over the government's choice of MPs from their ranks for all-party delegations to foreign capitals following Operation Sindoor.
"I am absolutely not getting into that subject," he told reporters as the chairman of Parliament's Standing Committee on External Affairs arrived for its meeting, which is being briefed by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on the India-Pakistan military conflict after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
Tharoor has been chosen by the BJP-led government to head one of the seven all-party delegations. His group will visit the US and four other countries.
The names of Tharoor and two other Congress MPs, who are members of other all-party delegations, had not figured among the four suggested by the main opposition party to the government.
The Congress and the Trinamool Congress, which has asked its sole representative Yusuf Pathan to opt out of the delegation, have criticised the government for not seeking their leaderships' consent for its choice of their leaders for the diplomatic outreach.
Accepting the nomination to lead the delegation to the US and four other countries, Tharoor had said in a post on X, "I am honoured by the invitation of the government of India to lead an all-party delegation to five key capitals, to present our nation's point of view on recent events."
"When national interest is involved, and my services are required, I will not be found wanting. Jai Hind!" he had added.
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Cong performed better in Kerala, anti-incumbency trends influenced WB, TN: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the Congress had largely met or exceeded expectations in several States, even as results in some regions reflected shifting voter sentiments.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said the party accepted the mandate in Assam while performing better than anticipated in Kerala.
He also pointed to possible anti-incumbency trends influencing outcomes in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
“In Assam, we got the expected result, and we accept the people’s mandate. In Kerala, we have won more seats than expected. We anticipated around 76 to 80, but we have gone up to around 95,” Siddaramaiah said.
In West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, there may have been an anti-incumbency trend, and that could have influenced the results, he added.
Siddaramaiah also extended his congratulations to a new political entrant in Tamil Nadu, noting the emergence of a different electoral dynamic in the State.
“I congratulate the new entrant who has achieved success there,” he added.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said electoral outcomes in some States had diverged from the party’s internal assessments, reflecting evolving voter expectations.
“We expected a certain trend, but the results have been different. Political reading was wrong in some places,” he said.
“People were looking for change in some States, and that has been reflected in the results,” Shivakumar, who is also the Congress Karnataka unit president, said.
Referring to Kerala, he said the Congress-led alliance had benefited from public sentiment.
“There was already an expectation based on local body elections, and people had shown confidence in us. That has translated into a strong result,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.
On Tamil Nadu, he acknowledged that the scale of political shift had come as a surprise.
“We expected to secure around 30 to 40 per cent of the vote share, but such a major shift was not anticipated. It shows that voter expectations were different,” he said.
Shivakumar added that electoral outcomes underscored the need for better political assessment in future.
“We have to understand these changes carefully. Political reading cannot go wrong like this,” he said.
