Shashi Tharoor on guest list of Putin State dinner; Rahul Gandhi, Kharge not invited

Tharoor, who chairs the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, confirmed he had accepted the invitation, calling it “a courtesy extended to the head of the committee”.

When asked why neither the Congress President nor the Leader of the Opposition received similar invitations, Tharoor said he was “unaware of the process followed for State dinner invitations”.

However, his decision to attend has triggered discomfort within the Congress.

Party spokesperson Pawan Khera appeared to take a veiled swipe at Tharoor, saying, “It is quite surprising an invitation was sent and accepted also. Everyone’s conscience has a voice. When my leaders aren’t invited… but I am… we should understand why the game is being played, who is playing it, and why we shouldn’t be part of it.”

The absence of invitations to Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge comes barely a day after Rahul accused the government of preventing visiting foreign leaders from meeting opposition figures.

Citing diplomatic tradition followed even by the Vajpayee government, he said, “These days the government suggests foreign leaders don’t meet the opposition.”

Tharoor, despite his friction with the party, backed Gandhi on this point. “The LoP has made his point. I think the government should respond,” he said.

A widening rift within Congress

The episode adds to growing strains between Tharoor and the Congress. Over the past year, the four-time Thiruvananthapuram MP has drawn criticism from within the party for remarks seen as praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including his comments following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and India’s subsequent military strikes on Pakistan.

Earlier this month, Tharoor further ruffled feathers with an article titled Indian Politics Are a Family Business, in which he criticised dynastic parties, including his own.

The piece reportedly deepened concerns about his loyalties amid speculation of a possible shift to the BJP, rumours Tharoor has repeatedly denied. “It is not a sign of my leaping to join his party,” he said in June.

Tensions between Tharoor and the Congress have been simmering since 2022, when he was part of a group of leaders who wrote to Sonia Gandhi seeking internal reforms after repeated electoral setbacks, including the 2019 Lok Sabha defeat.

As Putin’s State visit continues, the controversy over the dinner invitations has become yet another flashpoint in the uneasy relationship between Tharoor and his party, and a fresh reminder of the political sensitivities surrounding foreign diplomacy in India.