Shashi Tharoor Hits Back at Congress Critics Over Surgical Strike Remark
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor lashed out at critics within his own party on Wednesday after facing heavy backlash for stating that India conducted its first cross-border surgical strike under the Narendra Modi government in 2016. Tharoor accused party “zealots” of twisting his words and said he had “better things to do” than entertain distortions.
The remarks, made during an official trip to Panama City as part of the Centre’s global outreach on terrorism, sparked a political storm back home, with the Congress distancing itself and multiple leaders publicly rebuking Tharoor.
Clarifying his statement, Tharoor said he was referring only to India’s reprisals for terrorist attacks, not past wars. “For those zealots fulminating about my supposed ignorance of Indian valour across the LoC in the past… I was clearly and explicitly speaking only about reprisals for terrorist attacks,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Tharoor added that India’s prior responses were “restrained and constrained” by a responsible respect for the Line of Control and International Border.
Tharoor’s comments have intensified his long-running tensions with the party. The Congress had earlier expressed displeasure with the Thiruvananthapuram MP for accepting the government’s invitation to join “Operation Sindoor,” a diplomatic initiative led by the Ministry of External Affairs.
In his Panama City remarks, Tharoor said, “For the first time, India breached the Line of Control between India and Pakistan to conduct a surgical strike on a terror base, following the Uri attack.” The statement was interpreted as a snub to earlier military actions under Congress governments.
Congress hit back swiftly. Party spokesperson Pawan Khera posted a clip of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asserting that surgical strikes were indeed conducted during the UPA era. “Former PM Manmohan Singh: Many Surgical Strikes Conducted Under UPA,” Khera wrote on X, tagging Tharoor.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh also amplified Khera’s response, while party leader Udit Raj accused Tharoor of “dishonesty” and undermining the Congress’s military legacy.
“I could prevail upon PM Modi to declare you as super spokesperson of the BJP… How could you denigrate the golden history of Congress by saying India never crossed the LoC before PM Modi?” Raj posted on X.
He further questioned Tharoor’s loyalty to a party that had given him significant political space.
The controversy touches a nerve in the ongoing Congress-BJP battle over military achievements. The BJP has long credited the Modi government with authorizing bold responses to terror attacks, including the 2016 surgical strikes post-Uri and the 2019 Balakot air strikes post-Pulwama.
Congress, however, has maintained that similar actions were taken under the UPA but were not publicized due to national security concerns. In previous interviews, Manmohan Singh acknowledged multiple covert strikes that remained classified.
Tharoor, often seen as an outlier within Congress for his independent stands, remains firm on his statement. “Critics and trolls are welcome to distort my views and words as they see fit. I genuinely have better things to do,” he said, reiterating that his comments were about counterterrorism responses, not wartime actions.
