‘On the same page’: Shashi Tharoor on his meeting with Rahul Gandhi, Kharge

Amid increasing buzz over a rift with his colleagues, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor met his party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday, saying that they were “on the same page” as they move forward to serve the people of India.

In a post on X, Tharoor shared a photo from his meeting with the two leaders and wrote, “Thanks to @INCIndia President @kharge ji and LS LoP @RahulGandhi ji for a warm and constructive discussion today on a wide range of subjects. We are all on the same page as we move forward in the service of the people of India.”

Tharoor’s post put to rest the growing speculation of tense ties between the party colleagues. The buzz began spreading after reports claimed that Shashi Tharoor was “upset” with the party leadership due to a ‘snub’ by Rahul Gandhi at a recent event in Kerala’s Kochi.

Tharoor missing from two Congress meets
What added fuel to the fire was Tharoor skipping two party meetings.

During the first meeting, a crucial brainstorming session called by Kharge at his residence in Delhi, Tharoor was in Kozhikode, attending a literature festival. While an official statement mentioned that Tharoor had “prior permission” to attend the literary festival, news agency PTI had reported that insiders blamed a “tipping point” from a party event in Kochi on January 19.

Rahul Gandhi had reportedly acknowledged 12 seniors by name but failed to mention Tharoor during the event, even though the MP was sitting in the same row on the dias.

Several reports claimed that Tharoor felt “sidelined” despite being one of the three Congress Working Committee (CWC) members from the state.