Shashi Tharoor crossed 'lakshman rekha' with comments on India-Pak conflict: Congress sources

The Congress is a democratic party in which leaders express their views freely, but Shashi Tharoor has crossed the 'lakshman rekha' with his repeated comments on the India-Pakistan conflict, party sources said on Wednesday. The sources made the assertion after a meeting of senior leaders, including Tharoor, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretaries K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Sachin Pilot, among others, at its 24, Akbar Road office here.

"We are a democratic party and people keep expressing their opinion, but this time, Tharoor has crossed the lakshman rekha," a party source said.

The sources said, without naming anyone, the party leadership sent a "clear message" during the meeting that this is not a time of airing individual views but for amplifying the party's stand.

Asked about Tharoor's comments being at odds with the party's stand, Ramesh said at a media briefing, "That is his opinion. When Mr. Tharoor speaks, it is his view and it is not the stand of the party."

Tharoor has been making comments on the India-Pakistan conflict that are at variance with the party's stand, which has been questioning the government over US President Donald Trump's claims of mediating a ceasefire between the two countries.