Is Shashi Tharoor parting ways with Congress? Thiruvananthapuram MP skips key party meeting again

Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor once again skipped an important strategy meeting convened by Sonia Gandhi ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament, intensifying internal chatter about his political positioning and long-term association with the party. The Winter Session begins on December 1 and runs until December 19.

Tharoor’s absence raised eyebrows because the strategy group meeting—attended by senior leaders—was expected to chalk out the party’s approach inside Parliament amid the government’s legislative plans.

Why Tharoor skipped the meeting

According to Tharoor’s office, the MP was in Kerala and travelling back with his 90-year-old mother, and therefore could not reach Delhi in time. The clarification comes at a time when his repeated absence is being linked to internal friction.

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal also missed the meeting due to commitments related to local body elections in Kerala.

Second major absence in weeks

This is the second such instance in recent weeks. Tharoor had previously skipped a Congress meeting on the SIR (Special Infrastructure Region) controversy citing ill health. However, his appearance at a Prime Minister Narendra Modi event just a day earlier, coupled with Instagram posts praising the Prime Minister, triggered unease within the Congress leadership.

His social-media appreciation for PM Modi’s governance model—particularly references to India shifting from an “emerging market” to an “emerging model”—has deepened the perception that Tharoor is increasingly out of sync with Congress’s central narrative.

Tharoor’s praise for PM Modi creates internal tremors

In his remarks, Tharoor had highlighted:

• Modi’s efforts to overturn a colonial “slave mentality”
• His push for cultural self-confidence and national pride
• India’s resilience amid global instability

These comments were seen by many as stepping beyond healthy dissent and bordering on ideological divergence.

Tharoor, however, has categorically denied rumours of quitting Congress, calling it “over-interpretation” of his opinions rather than a sign of shifting allegiance.

Party leaders openly question his intentions

Some Congress leaders, however, have publicly demanded clarity.

Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit told ANI:

This strong language reflects the frustration within a section of the party that views Tharoor as increasingly unconventional and unpredictable in his public messaging.

Another senior leader added that Tharoor “does not fully understand the realities of the country,” escalating tensions further.

A long-running strain

Tharoor’s uneasy equation with the party’s old guard is not new.
Since his divergence during Operation Sindoor, and earlier during the Congress presidential election where he contested against Mallikarjun Kharge, he has remained both influential and peripheral—viewed as an asset for public perception but often criticised for ideological flexibility.

His continued absence from closed-door strategy discussions is now reigniting questions about:

• his political future inside Congress,
• whether he is signalling dissatisfaction,
• or if his actions are being misinterpreted due to factional divisions.

Is he parting ways with Congress?

At present, no concrete evidence suggests a defection.
Tharoor maintains he is committed to Congress and describes differences as “internal democracy, not rebellion.”

However, the combination of:

• repeated absences,
• visible admiration for the Prime Minister,
• and strong public criticism from within his own party

has undeniably intensified speculation ahead of the Winter Session.

For now, the Congress MP stands at the crossroads of perception—insisting he is loyal, even as many in his party grow sceptical.