NEW DELHI: A day after he was told off sharply by his boss, Sonia Gandhi, Congressman Shashi Tharoor was publicly praised by the Prime Minister.
Complimenting him for a speech at Oxford, which has gone viral, the PM said, "Shashi-ji is an orator who says the right thing at the right place... sometimes, such things become a turning point."
Mr Tharoor told NDTV, "Don't read too much into the PM's praise. I am not joining the BJP."
At a debate at Oxford University, Mr Tharoor said that Britain owes reparations to former colonies - "Britain's rise for 200 years was financed by its depredations in India," he said. That sentiment is "in the heart of every Indian," said the PM today in an address to parliamentarians. Mr Tharoor, seated in the front row, smiled in response. He later said he was "very touched and grateful."
The Congress has in the past objected to Mr Tharoor praising the Prime Minister. He was removed as spokesperson for his party in October.
Yesterday, Mrs Gandhi pulled him up, saying "You always do this", after his comments, made at a party meeting, were reported in the press.
Mr Tharoor told a session of Congress MPs that he disagreed with the strategy to disrupt Parliament and prevent it from functioning to pressure the government into sacking three top leaders. Mr Tharoor's note of dissent was widely reported in the media, triggering the reprimand from Mrs Gandhi.
However, Mr Tharoor told NDTV, "I am sad by the disruptions but I stand by my party. Being in the Congress, I will speak against all that BJP stands for."
Mrs Gandhi's reported criticism of Mr Tharoor was leveraged by the BJP today allege that the Congress brooks no dissent, and that the party's decision to disrupt Parliament is being questioned by some of its own members. "We have heard that Sonia Gandhi scolds her party MPs who raise their voice against uncalled-for agitation," said the BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad.