'Bird Becoming A Parrot?': Congress MP's Veiled Dig At Shashi Tharoor Over Emergency Article

Last Updated:July 10, 2025, 13:49 IST

Tagore's remark came after Tharoor wrote an opinion piece for ‘Project Syndicate’, criticising former prime minister Indira Gandhi for imposing the Emergency in 1975

Tharoor has been making comments on the India-Pakistan conflict and the diplomatic outreach that are at variance with the stand of the Congress. (PTI Image file)

Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Thursday took a veiled dig at his party colleague Shashi Tharoor, accusing him of towing the BJP’s line.

Tagore’s remark came after Tharoor wrote an opinion piece for ‘Project Syndicate’, criticising former prime minister Indira Gandhi for imposing the Emergency in 1975.

“When a Colleague starts repeating BJP lines word for word, you begin to wonder — is the Bird becoming a parrot? 🦜 Mimicry is cute in birds, not in politics." the Congress MP from Tamil Nadu’s Virudhnagar wrote in a post on X.

Following the Pahalgam terror attack, Tharoor has been making comments on the India-Pakistan conflict and the diplomatic outreach that are at variance with the stand of the Congress. He had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s energy, dynamism and willingness to engage remained a “prime asset" for India on the global stage but deserved greater backing.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge then said his party believes in the “country first" mantra, but for some, it is “Modi first and country later," in an apparent reference to Tharoor.

Later, Tharoor put out a cryptic post on X in which there was an image of a bird with the caption — “Don’t ask permission to fly. The wings are yours. And the sky belongs to no one…"

Reacting to Tharoor’s post, Tagore had said birds don’t need clearance to rise but in today even a free bird must watch the skies—hawks, vultures, and ‘eagles’ are always hunting.

News politics 'Bird Becoming A Parrot?': Congress MP's Veiled Dig At Shashi Tharoor Over Emergency Article