Under fire from Congress, Shashi Tharoor writes to party explaining praise for Narendra Modi
New Delhi: Congress spokesperson Shashi Tharoor, who has come under fire from party leaders for praising Narendra Modi, got a piece of advice from party general secretary Digvijay Singh "not to jump to conclusions".
"Modi Avtar 2? Let's not jump to conclusions but wait and watch," Digvijay Singh said on Twitter on Friday. The party had yesterday distanced itself from Tharoor's praise of Modi describing them as his "personal views".
Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had also slammed Tharoor calling him "immature" and a "chameleon".
Aiyar also said he was "deeply disappointed" that an "intelligent" man like Tharoor should want to rush to judgement in this manner and come out with this effusive remarks.
(Read: Congress distances itself from Shashi Tharoor's praise of Narendra Modi)
Tharoor, tweeted on Thursday night "I stand by every 1of my criticisms of @narendramodi in the past just as I appreciate his words in the present. Will watch his future actions."
(Read: Shashi Tharoor defends himself over ‘Modi praising’ article)
In another tweet, he also said, "Indian liberals shd understand we can only win on the quality of our arguments, not the intensity of our anger. Our virtue isn't self-evident."
Under attack from within, Tharoor on Friday wrote to the party explaining his controversial praise of Modi making it clear that he stood committed to the organisation and the principles of secularism.
In a letter to Ajay Maken, Chairman of the AICC Communication Department, he has said "by praising him (Modi) for specific things, we help frame public expectation of his continued behaviour and raise the bar against which we will judge him in future".
Party sources said that the party feels the matter should be put to rest now with Tharoor's explanation.
"Our credibility as attacker will be far greater if we have been gracious when it seems to be warranted," Tharoor said adding it would be all the better to attack him when he reveals his true face.
"We can attack him on actions and policies with which we disagree," he said.
The Congress MP from Thirvananthapuram reiterated his commitment to the party and its secular principles.
He has also maintained his views have been misrepresented in the media.
On Thursday, Tharoor said he was not a 'Modi fan' and that his party would robustly attack him if he reverts to 'Modi 1.0' avatar.
Earlier, in a US news website Huffington Post, Tharoor remarked that Modi was looking to turn himself from a "hate figure into an avatar of modernity and progress".
While addressing a press conference from the AICC podium on Wednesday, Tharoor said that the way Modi conducted himself after the election and spoke from the moment of his victory he "has been amazingly gracious and accommodative" of even those who had not voted for him.
"We should acknowledge that this may the evolution of Modi 2.0 but if Modi 1.0 reemerges, then we will robustly oppose him," he had said.
On Thursday, Tharoor while making it clear that he "cannot be called a fan of Modi" said that he was intrigued by the fact that the paraphrases of his piece that he has seen in the Indian media, showed that people don't actually read every word and every nuance.
