Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor — in the doghouse over his “cattle class” remark — today got a dressing-down from the Congress brass. According to top party sources, the Congress high command told its first-time MP in unambiguous terms to “stop his activities” and asked him “not to land in any fresh controversies”.
Tharoor, under fire for his remarks on the social networking website Twitter about how he was travelling in economy ‘cattle’ class, today met party president Sonia Gandhi and later Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. His office claimed that these meetings were to report on his recent Africa tour to the Congress leadership.
Party sources, however, said Tharoor tried to explain his position at both meetings but neither of the leaders were willing to accept his explanation. While the high command made it clear that Tharoor would not be removed from the minister’s chair, he has also been asked to “learn lessons in politics”.
At his meetings, Tharoor told the leadership that his comments on Twitter were not intended to hurt anyone but were “just in humour”. The party leadership told him: “One has to be careful and keep in mind that there are sensitivities attached to humour”.
Sonia Gandhi also made it clear that the controversy should be ended now and neither the party nor he should make any further comment on his Twitter statements. She also told Tharoor the party was “worried” about him.
According to top sources, the finance minister told Tharoor: “You are no more in the United Nations. This is India.” When Tharoor reiterated to Mukherjee that he just wanted to be humourous in his Twitter blog, Mukherjee replied, “This is not European Parliament where you can get away saying such things. You are now a part of the Indian Parliament.”
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Tharoor admitted to the top leaders that he was “a newcomer in politics” and pleaded that he “couldn’t gauge all the ramifications”of his statement.
Later, party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said: “Any well-wisher of the party, government and Tharoor will advise him to desist from any comments or action, even jokingly, that would hurt the sentiments of the common man.”
This was the first meeting of Tharoor with Gandhi after his Twitter blog created controversy. Last Tuesday, in a reply to a question on whether he would continue to travel in the ‘cattle class’, Tharoor had written on Twitter: “Absolutely, in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows”.
Tharoor, however, avoided the media today after both meetings.