`Don`t Ask Permission To…`: Shashi Tharoor After Kharge`s `PM First` Jibe-OxBig News Network

Soon after, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge criticized Shashi Tharoor for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Tharoor, on Wednesday, shared a cryptic post on his social media that appears to address the criticism. In a post on X, Tharoor said, “Don’t ask permission to fly. The wings are yours. And the sky belongs to no one.”

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— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 25, 2025

Earlier on Wednesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge criticised Tharoor for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an op-ed article, saying that for Congress, the nation comes first, but for some, it is Modi first and the nation second.

“The entire Opposition said the country stands with the Indian Army. It was I who first raised my voice and said the nation is above all. But some people say Modi comes first, and the country later. What should we do about that?” Kharge said. 

Last week, while addressing his supporters in Thiruvananthapuram, Tharoor had admitted to having differences with the party’s top brass. “Yes, I have differences of opinion with the Congress leadership — that is known. Some matters are in the public domain. I will speak to the leadership directly if needed. But I’m not going anywhere,” he had said.

Tharoor recently led a multi-party delegation to several countries to counter Pakistan’s narrative on cross-border terrorism, following the deadly terror strike in Pahalgam that left 26 people dead.

Kharge, at the press conference held at the Indira Bhavan here, launched a scathing attack on the BJP and Prime Minister Modi, accusing them of misusing the 50th anniversary of the Emergency to divert attention from their failures and undermine the Indian Constitution.

“PM Modi is repeatedly invoking a period that the country has moved past. He is making an issue out of something that people have already forgotten.”

Taking a dig at the BJP’s ideological roots, Kharge alleged that members associated with the RSS had once burned photos of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Mahatma Gandhi at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan and had even demanded elements of Manusmriti be included in the Constitution.

(With IANS inputs)