India's ‘1st surgical strike' was under Modi—Shashi Tharoor's remarks in Panama draw Congress fury
Tharoor's remarks, made in a speech to a gathering of the Indian community in Panama City, deepened his growing rift with the Congress, which was already upset over him accepting the Centre's invitation to lead a multi-party delegation on Operation Sindoor to various world capitals including Panama City and Washington among others.
New Delhi: The Congress leadership Wednesday endorsed a statement of party leader Udit Raj that Shashi Tharoor should become the 'super spokesperson of BJP'. This came after the four-time MP's remarks in Panama that India crossed the Line of Control to carry out surgical strikes on a terror base 'for the first time' under the Narendra Modi government in 2016.
'Even during the Kargil war we had not crossed the LoC, in Uri we did. Then came the attack in Pulwama…this time we crossed not only the LoC but the international border and we struck terrorist headquarters in Balakot,' the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.
He went on to add that Operation Sindoor was New Delhi's way of signalling a new normal. 'This time we have gone not only beyond the LoC and the International Border, we have struck at the Punjabi heartland of Pakistan by hitting terror bases, training centres, terror headquarters in nine places in both Punjab and Pakistan occupied Kashmir. And let me say to you that this is going to be the new normal. The PM has made it very clear that Operation Sindoor was necessary because these terrorists came and wiped the sindoor off the foreheads of 26 women.'
Congress's media and publicity department chairperson Pawan Khera took to social media to make it clear that the party leadership had taken umbrage to Tharoor's remarks. He shared a news report on former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that the Congress-led UPA government had also carried out surgical strikes.
'Former PM Manmohan Singh: Many Surgical Strikes Conducted Under UPA….CC @ShashiTharoor,' Khera posted on X. The post was shared by many Congress leaders including the party's general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh.
My dear @ShashiTharoor
Alas ! I could prevail upon PM Modi to declare you as super spokesperson of BJP , even declaring as foreign minister before landing in India . How could you denigrate the golden history of Congress by saying that before PM Modi , India never crossed LOC… https://t.co/c88b8rX2bq
— Dr. Udit Raj (@Dr_Uditraj) May 28, 2025
Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive…. https://t.co/qUwzDky8Ml
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 28, 2025
In an interview to the Hindustan Times in 2019, Singh, who died in December last year, had said: '…our armed forces were always given a free hand to operationally respond to every threat. Multiple surgical strikes took place during our tenure too. For us, military operations were meant for strategic deterrence and giving a befitting reply to anti-India forces than to be used for vote garnering exercises.'
Khera also posted a picture on X, tagging Tharoor, showing officers of 4 Sikh Regiment posing outside a captured Pakistani police station in Burki, Lahore District, during the 1965 war. 'This image is from the Battle of Burki (also known as the Battle of Lahore, 1965), a significant engagement during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, fought between Indian infantry units and Pakistani armoured forces. Burki is a village located southeast of Lahore, near the India-Pakistan border, approximately 11 km from Lahore's Allama Iqbal International Airport, connected to the city by a bridge over the Bambawali-Ravi-Bedian (BRB) Canal. CC @ShashiTharoor,' wrote Khera.
Officers of 4 Sikh Regiment posing outside a captured Pakistani police station in Burki, Lahore District.
This image is from the Battle of Burki (also known as the Battle of Lahore, 1965), a significant engagement during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, fought between Indian… pic.twitter.com/5lzUrA3aOw
— Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 (@Pawankhera) May 28, 2025
Congress leader Udit Raj took on Tharoor more directly, accusing him of being 'dishonest' to the party.
'Alas! I could prevail upon PM Modi to declare you as super spokesperson of BJP, even declaring as foreign minister before landing in India. How could you denigrate the golden history of Congress by saying that before PM Modi, India never crossed the LoC and International Border…How could you be so dishonest to the party which gave you so much ?' Raj posted on X.
Both Ramesh and Khera shared Raj's post.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Also Read: What if Congress loses Tharoor? Rahul Gandhi is preparing for a re-do of Punjab in Kerala
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