For 3rd time in a row, Shashi Tharoor gives Rahul Gandhi-led Congress meet a miss

Shashi Tharoor skips Rahul Gandhi-led Congress MPs meet (Image: PTI)

For the third time in a row, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor on Friday skipped the meeting of Congress Lok Sabha MPs chaired by Rahul Gandhi.

This comes as Tharoor is widely being seen on thin ice with the Congress' central leadership after comments that seem to praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Rahul Gandhi led the Congress' 99 MPs in a huddle this morning to review their performance so far and readjust attacks on the BJP before Parliament's winter session closes next week, on December 19.

However, according to party sources, Tharoor had already informed the party about his unavailability. Another senior Congress leader and Chandigarh MP Manish Tiwari was also absent in the meeting, ANI reported.

According to Shashi Tharoor's X timeline he was at an event hosted by Prabha Khaitan Foundation in Kolkata last night.

Earlier, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on December 1 clarified that he did not intentionally skip the Congress strategic group meeting held a day earlier, stating that he was on a flight returning from Kerala when the meeting took place.

Responding to questions on his absence, the Lok Sabha MP said, "I did not skip it; I was on a plane, coming from Kerala."

Tharoor's absence from the meeting, chaired by Sonia Gandhi to discuss the party's strategy for the Winter Session--had drawn attention within political circles, especially given that he had also missed the Congress meeting on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) issue earlier, citing ill health.

According to Tharoor's office, the MP was travelling with his 90-year-old mother on a later flight from Kerala, making it impossible for him to reach Delhi in time. Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal was also unable to attend due to his engagements in local body election campaigning in Kerala.

Tharoor had recently invited the ire of his party colleagues when he was the lone Congress representative invited to attend the state banquet hosted by the President for visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera had taken a subtle jibe at Tharoor saying, "Everyone's conscience has a voice. When my leaders aren't invited, but I am, we should understand why the game is being played, who is playing the game, and why we shouldn't be part of it."

Tharoor's repeated absence from key party deliberations has become a point of discussion within the Congress.

The rumours of infighting sparked earlier this year when Tharoor was picked by the NDA to be part an all-party delegation, that was formed after Operation Sindoor.