‘Doesn’t make a difference’: Sandeep Dikshit on reports of Shashi Tharoor skipping key Congress meet

New Delhi: Amid reports suggesting that Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is upset with Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and may skip a key meeting, party leader Sandeep Dikshit on Friday said that the absence of leaders who are not central to the party does not make any difference. Talking to IANS, Dikshit said: “All the strong and senior leaders from Kerala are attending the meeting. Those who are relevant to the Congress are coming. It doesn’t make a difference if leaders who are not major figures or relevant to the party are absent.”

Reports earlier in the day suggested that Tharoor was unhappy with the party leadership over what he perceived as a lack of “due respect” during Gandhi’s recent visit to Kochi. According to sources quoted by NDTV, Tharoor was upset after an incident in which Gandhi allegedly ignored him during a public interaction. A video from the event went viral on social media, purportedly showing Gandhi acknowledging several leaders while appearing to overlook Tharoor.

Sources claimed that Gandhi also did not mention Tharoor by name while greeting other senior leaders, a move that reportedly did not go down well with the four-time Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram. The meeting of senior Congress leaders from Kerala was convened by party President Mallikarjun Kharge to discuss preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state later this year. Leaders invited to the meeting included state unit President Sunny Joseph, Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V.D. Satheesan, and Congress Working Committee members Ramesh Chennithala and Tharoor, among others.

However, Tharoor was reportedly absent from the meeting. A former diplomat, Tharoor has in recent times been perceived as being on thin ice with the Congress’s central leadership due to remarks that appeared to praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling BJP. These include comments on the Prime Minister’s handling of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and subsequent military strikes on Pakistan, as well as occasional critical observations aired through media platforms.

Tensions between Tharoor and the Congress leadership have surfaced repeatedly, with the BJP often highlighting these differences to target the opposition party. The strain reportedly intensified last year when Tharoor defended the Modi government’s actions following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, a stance that went against the Congress’s official line.