Senior Congress leader K.K. Muralitharan again targeted party ally Shashi Tharoor on Sunday (July 20, 2025), saying that he would not be invited to any party program in the state capital until he changes his stand on the issue of national security.
Muralitharan said that Tharoor, a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), is no longer considered ‘one of us’. He said that the national leadership of the party will decide what action is needed against the Congress MP.
Muralitharan said, ‘Till he (Tharoor) does not change his stand, we will not invite him to any party program to be held in Thiruvananthapuram. He is not with us, so there is no question of boycotting any of his programs.
He was answering the question asked by journalists about Tharoor’s staggering stance on the issue of national security. His response came a day after Tharoor’s statement, in which he said that the nation is paramount and parties are the medium to improve the country.
The Congress MP had also said that many people are criticizing them due to their stance to support the armed forces and central government in relation to what happened recently on the country and its borders.
He said at a program in Kochi on Saturday, ‘But I will be adamant on my point, because I believe it is right for the country.’ Tharoor also said that when people like him call on other parties to cooperate in the interest of national security, they feel that it is a betrayal of them and it becomes a big problem.
Muralitharan had earlier targeted Tharoor for sharing a survey, stating that he is the most preferred option for the post of Chief Minister from the United Democratic Front (UDF).
He had said, ‘They should first decide which party they are from.’ Muralitharan has done this sarcasm at the MP of Thiruvananthapuram at a time when the party’s central leadership and their (Tharoor) differences are increasing with the responses of Tharoor after the Pahalgam terror attack.
There has been a sharp criticism within the Congress about these reactions of Tharoor and some of his comments are considered to be forcing the party to take a defensive attitude. The senior Congress leader attacked Tharoor even after the publishes of her article criticizing Indira Gandhi for emergency in a Malayalam daily. Muralitharan had urged the CWC member to choose a clear political path if they feel forced within the Congress.