Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has once again been absent from a crucial Congress party meeting. This time, he missed a strategy group session chaired by Sonia Gandhi, convened to prepare for the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament, scheduled to commence on December 1st. The repeated absences have fueled speculation about Tharoor’s future within the party. While his office stated his absence was due to travel commitments in Kerala with his elderly mother, this explanation follows a pattern of missed important gatherings.
Earlier, Tharoor had also skipped a Congress meeting concerning the ‘SIR’ issue, citing ill health. This particular absence raised eyebrows as it came shortly after his attendance at a Prime Minister Narendra Modi event and public praise for the Prime Minister’s vision for India. Tharoor lauded Modi’s focus on national pride and shedding a colonial ‘slave mentality,’ which drew criticism from within the Congress ranks. Despite facing backlash and calls for explanation from fellow party members, Tharoor has maintained that his comments reflect differences in opinion, not disloyalty, and denies any intention of leaving the Congress party. His public alignment with certain aspects of Modi’s agenda, however, continues to deepen internal party divisions and fuel ongoing discussions about his political trajectory.