Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was absent once again from a key strategy meeting of the party’s Lok Sabha members on Friday, marking his third consecutive no-show in just a few weeks. The meeting, led by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, was called to take stock of the party’s performance and fine-tune its offensive ahead of the winter session’s close on December 19.
Tharoor’s absence immediately raised eyebrows within the party, particularly as the senior leader from Thiruvananthapuram has recently been perceived to be on uneasy turf with the Congress high command. This perception stems from a series of remarks in which he appeared to praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi, comments that triggered discomfort among sections of the Congress leadership.
According to Tharoor’s posts on X, he was attending personal engagements in Kolkata, including the wedding of his long-time aide John Koshy and the birthday celebration of his sister, Smita Tharoor. Chandigarh MP Manish Tiwari was also missing from the meeting.
This no-show follows two earlier absences. On November 30, Tharoor missed a strategy meet chaired by Sonia Gandhi, explaining later that he had been mid-flight on a rescheduled journey from Kerala with his 90-year-old mother. Earlier in November, he skipped another meeting on the voter re-verification issue, citing ill health. That absence came just a day after he attended a private event where the Prime Minister was present and later praised his speech, sparking internal criticism from party colleagues.
Sources indicate that Tharoor last attended an internal party meeting in October during a marathon review of the Congress’ Kerala strategy ahead of next year’s Assembly polls.
At Friday’s meeting, Rahul Gandhi reportedly encouraged MPs, asserting that the Congress’ coordinated attacks have rattled senior BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah.
With internal scrutiny intensifying, Tharoor’s repeated absences continue to fuel speculation about his equation with the party leadership.
