Admiration for PM has gone beyond physical world: Congress mocks Tharoor

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jun 20, 2026 22:22 IST

The Congress on Saturday took a swipe at senior party leader Shashi Tharoor over his perceived "admiration" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying it appeared to have "transcended the physical world" and that he now seemed capable of hearing things the prime minister had never even said.

Responding to the criticism, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said it was extraordinary that a statement about protecting Indian civilian sailors had been given a partisan twist.

The controversy erupted over Tharoor's reported remarks that PM Modi had raised the issue of the safety of civilian sailors during both his public and private interactions with the president.

"It is important to convey the message that in wartime, civilian sailors on commercial ships should not be targets of combat. They are not soldiers, and that is the message PM Modi conveyed," Tharoor was quoted as saying.

Responding to the criticism in a post on X, Tharoor said it was "extraordinary" that a statement about protecting Indian civilian sailors was being turned into a partisan political controversy.

"Three Indians lost their lives. My remarks were about the safety of our citizens and the principle that civilian seafarers should never be targets of military action," he said.

"If some people are more interested in scoring political points than addressing that concern, that says more about them than it does about me," the Congress MP added. Concern for Indian lives should unite us, not divide us, he asserted.

Later, sharing a video clip of his remarks at the press conference on X, Khera took another swipe at Tharoor, saying, "My senior colleague Dr Shashi Tharoor's admiration for PM Modi appears to have transcended the limitations of the physical world. He now seems capable of hearing what Modi doesn't even say."

Khera further pointed out that, according to the official Ministry of External Affairs readout of PM Modi's meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, there was no mention of the "cold-blooded killing" of three Indian sailors by the United States in the Gulf of Oman.

"This was the first Modi-Trump meeting after Operation Sindoor, yet there is no indication that Modi challenged Trump's repeated claim, now made over 120 times, that he secured a ceasefire by threatening India with trade consequences," the Congress leader said.

Khera also noted that the official readout made no reference to the alleged attack on the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, which had been India's guest during MILAN-2026, describing it as an incident in India's strategic neighbourhood.

"And yet, Tharoor ji somehow heard forceful assertions, robust pushback and uncompromising diplomacy that never made it into the official record. Perhaps the rest of us are constrained by ordinary human senses. For devotees of the 'Maha-Maanav Modi', the less he says, the more they hear," Khera said in a sharp swipe at his fellow party leader.

Later, in an apparent response to Khera's criticism, Tharoor said in a post on X that he had merely referred to widely published media reports and had not attributed any words to PM Modi that were not already in the public domain.

"For those who believe I 'heard' words that @narendramodi never said at the G-7, I was merely alluding to widely published reports about his remarks. If you want to hear a report, here's one," he wrote, sharing a YouTube link to a media report.

Tharoor also posted what he described as a summary generated by Google Gemini, which stated that during the G7 Outreach Session in Evian, France, PM Modi had raised concerns over the safety of civilian seafarers and the need to secure global shipping lanes in the wake of the Gulf of Oman incident in which three Indian sailors were killed.

"The remarks carried intense diplomatic weight as they came directly on the heels of a major maritime crisis: just days prior, three Indian seafarers were killed in the Gulf of Oman when US military forces struck the merchant vessel Settebello over an alleged US blockade violation regarding Iranian oil transport," the summary shared by Tharoor said.

Defending his remarks, Tharoor said he reads extensively and stands by his interpretation of the reports. "I have never in my life been accused of misrepresenting or distorting any facts or statements and I stand by my summary of what I read in the print media about these remarks, which were reportedly made when our PM was seated next to @realDonaldTrump," he said.

Meanwhile, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that Tharoor's remarks on Modi's handling of the seafarers issue contradicted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's position on the matter.

"It is embarrassing. Yesterday was Rahul Gandhi's birthday, but he did not receive any gift. Dr Shashi Tharoor contradicted Rahul Gandhi's stand on the same issue, saying Prime Minister Modi articulated India's position on the sailors' issue very forcefully before President Trump and conveyed the country's stance effectively," Poonawalla said in a video statement.

He further alleged that Tharoor had repeatedly praised Prime Minister Modi's vision, articulation and leadership and took a swipe at the Congress over its projection of Rahul Gandhi as a future prime ministerial candidate, claiming that some leaders within the party did not share that view.

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