Shashi Tharoor - at a crossroads in his relationship with the Congress after statements praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi - differed from the party line again Wednesday, this time over a bill proposing the forcible removal of senior government members facing criminal charges.
The Constitution (One Hundred And Thirtieth Amendment) Bill 2025, to be tabled in Parliament by Home Minister Amit Shah, proposes that minister, from the Prime Minister down, who has been arrested and jailed for over 30 consecutive days must resign on the 31st or be sacked.
The bill has been heavily criticised by the opposition, with Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra calling it a "draconian" bill. "Tomorrow, you can file any case against a chief minister, have him/her arrested for 30 days without conviction... and he ceases to be a chief minister? It is absolutely anti-constitutional..."
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Mr Tharoor, however, has taken a different tack, again. "If you spend 30 days in jail, can you continue to be a minister? This is a matter of common sense... I don't see anything wrong in this," he told NDTV.
When it is tabled - Parliament was adjourned this morning after the usual ruckus and protess by the opposition - the bill will likely be sent to a select committee for further scrutiny.
Mr Tharoor told NDTV if the bill is sent for study "it is a good thing". He said, "I think it is good for our democracy to have a discussion within the committee... so let's have that discussion."
Mr Tharoor also raised eyebrows Monday, when he seemed to take a jab at the Congress for skipping a special discussion in Parliament on Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla.
READ | Shashi Tharoor's Jab Over Lok Sabha's Shubhanshu Shukla Discussion
Tharoor-Congress ties - uncertain since 2021, when he joined a group of 'dissenters', i.e., the G-23, and questioned the Gandhis' leadership - have taken a sharp downturn recently.
The Congress expressed its unease over positive comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which were amplified after he was chosen to brief 'partner nations' on Pahalgam and Op Sindoor.
READ | Tharoor Snubbed Congress On Op Sindoor Debate: The Inside Story
Mr Tharoor has acknowledged differences between himself and the Congress; he even met Rahul Gandhi, but nothing seemed to come of that meeting.
Speaking to NDTV last month, he played down, again, any talk of friction with the party, calling such incidents "differences of opinion... with only some elements of leadership".
When NDTV asked him how he would define his relationship with the Congress today, he pointed out he had been loyal to the party and its ideology for the last 16 years.
Mr Tharoor has also firmly denied any talk of a switch to the BJP, a move that could re-align and re-shape India's political lanscape. "It is not a sign of my leaping to join the Prime Minister's party... as some people have been implying..." he said after his remarks about Mr Modi's "dynamism".
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