Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who recently missed a crucial party meeting, sparking speculation about his future with the grand old party, missed another one on Tuesday, but stated he received the invitation only a day or two before the meeting, by when he had already booked tickets for a pre-planned visit to Dubai.“As for not attending today’s meeting, the invitation came only yesterday or the day before, by which time my travel plans were already finalised. With Parliament in session, I had booked my ticket directly from Dubai to Delhi,” he told reporters.With the Budget session of Parliament starting on Wednesday, Congress legislative party (CPP) chairperson and former party chief Sonia Gandhi convened a meeting of the Congress’ parliamentary strategy group at her residence to decide on the issues to be raised during the session.Sources confirmed that Tharoor, the four-time Thiruvananthapuram MP who has held the seat since 2009, could not attend the meeting as he was returning from Dubai. They added that the former diplomat had informed the party in advance about his inability to be present.Meanwhile, Tharoor said he would convey his “issues” directly to the Congress top leadership.“Whatever issues I need to raise, I will convey them directly to the party leadership. There is no doubt that I will get that opportunity, especially since everyone will be together during the Parliament session,” he added.In recent months, Tharoor’s repeated praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government has reportedly irked the Congress, leading to him being “sidelined” from party affairs. He has been particularly vocal in his support for the government on Operation Sindoor, the five-day India-Pakistan conflict in May 2025, while the Congress has repeatedly sought to corner the Centre over alleged losses of Indian fighter jets during the conflict and US President Donald Trump’s claims of mediating the truce between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
