In a stunning public display of dissent rarely seen within the Congress ranks, four-term MP Shashi Tharoor has sharply criticised his own party’s reliance on parliamentary disruptions, declaring that the electorate chose him “to use intelligence and articulate issues for the nation, not merely to shout slogans and create ruckus.” The remarks, delivered amid a completely stalled Winter Session, have ignited a fresh crisis for the Congress leadership and handed the ruling BJP a potent narrative of opposition disarray.

Speaking outside Parliament, the Thiruvananthapuram lawmaker revealed that he has consistently voiced this view even in closed-door meetings with the highest echelons of the party, including former president Sonia Gandhi. “I may be the lone dissenting voice on this matter within the Congress, but I have absolutely no doubt about the mandate people have given me,” Tharoor asserted. He argued that constant adjournments and placard-waving diminish the opposition’s credibility and prevent substantive debate on critical national concerns, from economic distress to institutional integrity.

Since the Winter Session commenced last week, both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have witnessed daily chaos, with the Congress-led INDIA bloc aggressively pressing for discussions on multiple flashpoints — alleged stock-market manipulation involving the Adani Group, the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, and the recent near-miss aviation incidents. While the government has accused the opposition of orchestrating a deliberate washout despite Prime Minister Modi’s pre-session appeal for constructive proceedings, Tharoor’s open condemnation has exposed a visible ideological and strategic chasm inside the Congress.

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This episode marks only the latest chapter in Tharoor’s uneasy relationship with the party establishment. His recent public appreciation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Ramnath Goenka lecture, repeated absence from Congress parliamentary strategy meetings (attributed to being with his ailing mother in Kerala), and earlier compliments for certain government policies have repeatedly invited accusations of toeing a “soft Hindutva” or pro-establishment line. Party insiders suggest the leadership is preparing a sharp rebuttal, with some privately questioning why a leader who finds merit in BJP positions remains in the Congress.

As Parliament remains paralysed and the opposition’s unity frays at the edges, Tharoor’s unapologetic stand — delivered with characteristic eloquence — has intensified the spotlight on the Congress’s internal contradictions, its struggle for relevance, and the growing distance between its cosmopolitan, English-speaking intellectual wing and the aggressive street-fighter approach favoured by the current high command.

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