'Thoughtful...': Attention on Congress’s ideological direction after Tharoor reacts to viral X thread

Shashi Tharoor

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has once again sparked a political conversation online, this time by sharing a detailed thread on X that dissects ideological fault lines within the Congress party.

"Thank you for this thoughtful analysis. There has always been more than one tendency in the party; your framing is fair, and reflective of a certain perception of the current reality," he said on X.

The thread, which was written by political commentator Sameer, lays out a sharp contrast between Tharoor’s politics and that of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, arguing that the party is struggling to reconcile two very different visions of itself.

The analysis highlighted the idea that Tharoor embodies an older, urban Congress tradition rooted in the 1990s, further saying that this trand of the party prioritised governance,  institutions, and administrative competence.

Leaders such as PV Narasimha Rao, Manmohan Singh, and S M Krishna are cited as figures who represented this technocratic, policy-first approach.

“Tharoor shows alignment between background, political language, and audience. His increasing focus on social media platforms reflects awareness of political fit, not ideological drift,” the thread states.

It goes on to argue that this category of leaders has consistently failed to find space within the contemporary Congress ecosystem.

“It is these very same urban technocratic leaders that the Congress repeatedly sidelines, again and again. All of these aforementioned leaders gained more recognition and respect from the RW (i.e., the right wing) than the party… in today’s Congress era," it says.

Several users interpreted this observation as an indirect reference to former Congress heavyweights who eventually exited the party, most notably Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Scindia quit the Congress in 2020, triggering the collapse of the party’s government in Madhya Pradesh, before joining the BJP. He later served as Union aviation minister and was appointed communications minister in June last year.

The thread then shifts focus to Rahul Gandhi, portraying him as the face of a post-2010 shift in Congress strategy.

According to the author, Gandhi’s leadership represents an attempt to reframe the party as a rural, grievance-driven mass movement designed to counter the BJP in the countryside. However, the thread is critical of this pivot, describing it as emotionally resonant but structurally weak.

“Rural politics in India is not rhetorical. It is organisational, cultural, and long-term. BJP succeeds here because of cadre depth, discipline, and cultural alignment through the RSS. Congress has none of this infrastructure, and yet wants to behave like a poor man’s messiah," the thread adds.

The analysis has reignited long-running criticism of the Congress leadership, particularly accusations that internal power dynamics favour the old guard while marginalising emerging leaders. Critics argue this pattern has repeatedly weakened the party’s electoral prospects and driven capable figures away.