Have some 'issues' with party, will take them up with leadership: Shashi Tharoor
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Kozhikode (PTI): Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said he has some "issues" with the party which he would take up with the leadership, but asserted that he has never violated the organisation's stated positions in Parliament.
Any internal differences should be discussed within the organisation and not through the media, he said.
His remarks come amid reports that Tharoor is upset over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi not adequately acknowledging his presence at a recent event in Kochi and over alleged repeated attempts by state party leaders to sideline him.
"All I can say is that there are issues which I need to take up with my own party leadership and not in a public forum…I will be going to Delhi for Parliament and I will get an opportunity, I believe, to make my concerns very clear to the party leadership and get their viewpoint… have a proper conversation."
"I am in Congress for the past 17 years. Let's not go too far…as far as I am concerned, whatever has gone wrong, needs to be addressed and it will be addressed in an appropriate forum," he told PTI Videos.
Speaking to reporters here, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said he had informed the Congress leadership about his inability to attend a party meeting.
He said that some reports about him might be true, while others could be false.
Tharoor explained that he wanted to attend a literature festival and that continuous travel was difficult.
"However, I will certainly attend all party activities in Parliament, and at that time I can meet the party leadership," he said.
Responding to a question on alleged unfair treatment at a party event in Kochi, Tharoor said he would not comment on it.
He also said that he wanted to exhibit his book on Sree Narayana Guru at the literature festival.
Recalling an earlier instance, he said he had once been unable to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival due to a political engagement.
Earlier, answering questions during a session at the Kerala Literature Festival here, Tharoor said he had taken a strong stand on 'Operation Sindoor' and remained "unapologetic," about it.
Explaining his position, Tharoor said that as an observer, commentator and writer, he had written a newspaper column after the Pahalgam terror attack, stating that it should not go unpunished and that there should be a kinetic response.
He said that while India is focused on development, it should not be dragged into a prolonged conflict with Pakistan, and that any action should be limited to targeting terrorist camps.
Tharoor said that to his surprise, the Indian government did exactly what he had recommended.
"How could I be expected to criticise it when I myself recommended it. I supported it fully throughout Operation Sindoor and afterwards," he said.
When the government sent him abroad as part of a multi-party delegation over Operation Sindoor, his party, for some reason, did not like it.
"You can speak to them and find out," he said
Tharoor said it was Jawaharlal Nehru who posed the famous question: "Who lives if India dies."
"When India is at stake, when India’s security and its place in the world are involved, India comes first," he said.
He added that political parties may have differences as part of the process of building a better India, but when national interests are involved, India must prevail.
Terrorists had gunned down 26 people, mostly tourists, in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in April 2025, sending shockwaves across the country. In response, India launched Operation Sindoor, a precision military offensive targeting terror launchpads in Pakistan.
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said that Tharoor continues to be an integral part of the party and that he had informed the leadership in advance about his inability to attend the party meeting.
“He is not someone who stays away from party programmes. He had informed the party about the reasons for not attending the meeting,” Chennithala said.
He said that unlike him, Tharoor is not only a politician but also a writer and author who is engaged at the international level.
“He is not a full-time party worker. He is also a writer and a public speaker who is engaged in events in India and abroad. We are full-time party workers and can give priority to party events,” he said.
Chennithala said that no one could distance Tharoor from the party.
Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunny Joseph also said that Tharoor had informed the party leadership about his absence in advance and that no controversy should be created over his absence.
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Can't say when I'll return to India; legally barred from leaving UK: Mallya to Bombay HC
Mumbai (PTI): Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, facing multiple cases of fraud and money laundering, told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that he cannot say when he will return to India as he is legally barred from leaving the UK.
In a statement submitted through his counsel Amit Desai to the high court, Mallya said he did not have an active passport after it was revoked and hence, he cannot give a definite date of return to India.
The statement was submitted after a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad made it clear last week that it would not hear Mallya's plea against the order declaring a fugitive economic offender until he returns to India.
The court had then asked the former liquor to clarify whether or not he intended to return to India.
Mallya, based in the United Kingdom since 2016, has filed two petitions in the HC -- one challenging an order declaring him a fugitive economic offender and the other questioning the constitutional validity of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
The 70-year-old liquor baron is accused of defaulting on multiple loan repayments of several thousand crores and facing money laundering charges.
The businessman, in his statement to HC, said he cannot give a definite date for his return as he does not have his Indian passport, which was revoked by the government in 2016, and also because there are orders of courts in England and Wales that prohibit him from leaving the country.
"Mallya is not permitted to leave or attempt to leave England and Wales or apply for or be in possession of any international travel document. In any event, the petitioner is unable to precisely state when he will return to India," Desai read out the statement in the court.
The senior counsel reiterated that Mallya's presence was not required in the country for the court to hear his pleas against the fugitive tag and the provisions of the Act.
"If he (Mallya) were to appear in India, then all these proceedings would be rendered irrelevant as the statute says that once the offender appears in the concerned court of law, then all these orders would be set aside," Desai told the court.
The bench directed the Union government to file its reply to Mallya's statement and posted the matter for further hearing next month.
Mallya was declared a Fugitive Economic Offender in January 2019 by a special court hearing cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The businessman left India in March 2016.
