'I have options if party doesn't need me': Shashi Tharoor's message for Congress amid row over praises for Modi, LDF

Tharoor made the remark on Varthamanam, a Malayalam-language podcast by The Indian Express.

The Congress MP claimed the mere committed voters won't make the party win the elections in the state, which will head to the voting next year.

Tharoor said, "If you look at the national level, the Congress' vote was around 19 percent. Would we be fine with our own vote base? Only if we get 26-27 percent additional votes, we can come to power. So we need those who have not backed us in the last two elections.

"My appeal in Thiruvananthapuram was much above what the party has. It is because of my behaviour and way of speaking, even those who are against the Congress generally also voted for me. That's what we want in 2026."

He added, "The support of the sheer committed voters would make us sit in the opposition again. That's the reality. A lot of leaders in the Congress as well as allies in the UDF and also public opinion polls conducted by some organisations showed that I am ahead of others even without any campaign from my side.

"If the party wants to use then I will be there, if not, I will have my own things to do. You should not think that I have no option to spend my time, I have options. I have my books, speeches, and invitations from all across the world for talks."

The Congress was left embarrassed after Tharoor praised the LDF government for its new industrial policies in an article for an English daily.

In an article for The Indian Express, Tharoor had written, "As India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem expands, Kerala is beginning to stand out as a model of economic innovation and sustainable growth. There is still a long way to go: I have pointed out that while many states have had the tragic experience of enduring farmer suicides, only Kerala has recorded cases of investor suicide—when people have sunk their life savings into business ventures and seen them lost because of labour trouble, political hostility and/or bureaucratic obstruction.

"This is why I have called for the state to adopt an Investor Protection Act, so investors can be assured their capital will be safe except for normal business downturns. Kerala will have to update its laws, slash regulations and streamline government processes for Rajeev’s claim to become true across the board."

Rejecting Tharoor's remarks, Kerala Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan had said as quoted by The New Indian Express, "Kerala does not have a great industrial environment, though we aspire to improve it. We do not know on what basis or using what statistics Shashi Tharoor wrote his article."

"The industries minister claims that three lakh enterprises were established in Kerala over the past three and a half years. If that was true, at least 2,000 enterprises should have been started in each constituency.

"We should not count bakeries and small shops set up by Gulf returnees as enterprises. We do not agree with the claim that three lakh businesses were launched. The party will examine the circumstances under which Tharoor made such a statement," the Congress leader had added.

Besides the LDF, which returned for a rare consecutive second term in Kerala in 2021, Tharoor also praised Modi's maiden US trip after Donald Trump returned to the White House as opposed to Congress' routine jibes at the Prime Minister over foreign visits.

Speaking to ANI on Modi's trip, Tharoor had said, "The press statements by both the Prime Minister and President Trump are very encouraging because it looks like some of the big concerns we all had have been addressed, for example on the question of trade and tariffs. They have decided to sit down together and do a serious negotiation that would conclude by the fall which is September-October of this year.

"I think that's a very good outcome because otherwise the fear was there might be some hasty decisions made in Washington which would have affected our exports. This way there is time to discuss and negotiate. I welcome that."

In a significant X post, Tharoor, a former diplomat, on Sunday shared Thomas Gray's quote which reads, "Where ignorance is bliss, 'Tis folly to be wise."

The Congress MP shared the quote writing, " Thought for the day!"