Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is in the eye of a storm over his stand on two issues that go contrary to the party line. One, he praised and hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States as successful, much against the official position taken by the party. Second was about his home state Kerala, where he praised the success of some start-ups, which by implication suggested better business atmosphere in the left-ruled state.
Congress is eyeing a comeback in Kerala after dethroning the Left Democratic Front government there. Tharoor, however, clarified that he had not praised the Kerala government, but only the success of the start-ups in the state.
Tharoor obviously has taken a pragmatic position independent of the party stand. He has explained his position as a “Member of Parliament” representing lakhs of people. At the same time, he has clarified that he was “not the spokesman” of the party and that his position should not be taken as a party stand.
Such things are not uncommon in normal times, but certainly not during abnormal times, when the polity in the country is completely polarised - “with us or against us” without any grey shades.
US President Donald Trump’s emphasis on reciprocal tariffs apart, Prime Minister Modi’s visit has indeed been a success. Tariff issue is just like a footnote in the entire visit.
Moreover, India is not the only country that Trump has chosen for reciprocal tariffs. He started with Canada, the closest ally of the US, to impose a 25 per cent tariff on imports.
Laying overemphasis on the issue of tariffs amid Modi’s visit is like “missing the woods for the trees”. Trump, for that matter, has not imposed any additional or punitive tariffs on Indian imports, but proposed the same tariffs as India charges from the US imports. The US has about a $45 billion trade deficit with India.
Another issue that the opposition, particularly the Congress, has been trying to corner the Prime Minister on, is the way undocumented Indians have been deported in handcuffs and shackles. There was no official word, neither from the Government of India nor the US government, on the issue during the Prime Minister’s visit there.
Like Tharoor said, everything about diplomacy is not made public. May be the Indian delegation raised the matter with its US counterparts, but certainly the issue would not be expected to be discussed at the highest level of Modi and Trump.
Overall, Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the US was successful. The body language of the two heads of governments of two great democracies was quite encouraging. It goes without saying that not only Trump, but most of the senior members in his administration, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz are considered to be pro-India and appreciative of India’s security concerns.
They were appointed as any special favour for India, but their holding these positions will provide a long-term diplomatic and strategic advantage to India vis-à-vis its rivals like China and Pakistan.
Besides, Prime Minister Modi was only the fourth world leader to visit the US after Trump assumed the Presidency for his second term. This also reflects the importance that India holds in the US' scheme of things.
The Prime Minister does get credit for it. India indeed is too important to be ignored by any country, the US in particular, but the priority and preference it has received has a lot to do with the personal equation Modi enjoys with Trump.
Ideally, the Congress, the principal opposition party in the country, should have taken a rational and pragmatic stand about the visit. Instead, it adopted the characteristic partisan course.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said Modi had failed to protect India’s trade and business interests, which he said was insulting for Indians. He also criticised the Prime Minister for not taking up the issue of handcuffing of Indian deportees.
Also read: Deepening fault lines between BJP, Cong; now over CEC, ECs
It is high time that the Congress listens to leaders like Tharoor who may be seen as taking a stand at variance with that of the party, but it is not necessarily at variance with the public mood.
The problem with the Congress leadership is that it has been opposing the government for the sake of opposition. Whatever the government does, the Congress has always criticised it, without taking into consideration the merits or demerits.
As Tharoor remarked, not everything the government does is wrong. At the same time, he added, not everything the opposition says is wrong.
For the Congress, it is more important. Just because the government does something, does not mean it has to necessarily oppose it, as it has been doing without fail.
In the process, it loses sight of public sentiment. If the party stand does not catch the public imagination, it hardly serves any purpose, no matter how loud you shout in your echo chamber.
People like Tharoor in the Congress have a point. The problem is there are not many like him in the party today. Even if there are any, they choose not to speak up, lest they end up antagonising the party leadership, which is always unforgiving in such matters.
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