India’s Congress party squanders chance to lead on national security narrative

In the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s response through Operation Sindoor, the Congress party at first seemed to have learnt lessons from the past and threw its weight behind the government. But since then, the principal opposition party has unravelled and done what it is best at — shooting itself in the foot. The manner in which the Congress has gone out of its way to undermine the delegation of MPs visiting different countries reflects inner-party differences and churlishness. The party leadership has not hidden the fact that they did not want Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor to be part of the delegations, and there has been very public criticism of him by senior Congress leaders who have even said he was acting like a BJP spokesman.

Putting political differences aside, Tharoor has taken a statesmanlike approach in showing a united front to the world — something the Congress could have used to its political advantage. Instead, the party has likened the MPs to terrorists. In the words of Jairam Ramesh, the Pahalgam terrorists are roaming around (since they haven’t been caught), and the MPs are roaming around too. An astonishing statement by any account.