Kharge's Lighthearted Jab at Tharoor During Congress Working Committee Meeting

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday took a lighthearted dig at party MP Shashi Tharoor during a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, sources said. The exchange occurred as the party discussed when the Congress or the opposition INDIA alliance should hold a rally.

Tharoor, a four-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram, suggested that the event be held on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Kharge responded immediately, gesturing towards Tharoor and saying, "You must attend it. Don't just end up writing articles in newspapers that we read later." Tharoor nodded in agreement without saying anything.

The Congress and Tharoor have had an uneasy relationship at times, particularly over his perceived support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi on certain issues. After Operation Sindoor last year, Tharoor disregarded party objections and led one of seven delegations that travelled abroad to highlight Pakistan's role in terrorist attacks in India. Later that year, he ruffled feathers within the party by writing an article against dynastic politics, an issue often used by the BJP to target the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Another lighthearted moment arose when Kharge told Rahul Gandhi not to worry, as the entire Congress stood behind him. Gandhi quipped, "Standing behind is fine, but let's hope they are not too far behind."

Gandhi also noted that while people used to be sceptical when he spoke about vote theft in the past, that perception has changed. He hinted that even those present in the meeting had shared that scepticism and emphasised that whereas only 20% of people used to believe the allegations earlier, the figure is 80% today. He said the media, which did not believe his claims, has started doing so and conducting its own investigations and reporting on these stories.

An Indian Express report last week stated that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised questions about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls but their concerns were not addressed by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The Congress and other opposition parties have accused the Election Commission of favouring the BJP and stated they will move a motion to impeach Kumar. The BJP, pointing to clarifications by the Election Commission, has alleged that opposition parties have been trying to make an issue out of nothing because people are not voting for them and they are losing elections.