Shashi Tharoor’s Praise of Trump – Mamdani Meeting Invites BJP Dig at Congress, Rahul Gandhi

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Nov 22: The Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s appreciation of the Donald Trump – Zohran Mamdani meeting in the White House on Friday night has been viewed by the BJP as Thiruvananthapuram MP’s another dig at the Congress leadership for crying foul over alleged electoral irregularities even though the Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains constantly in election mode never missing an opportunity to attack the Congress and the “Yuvraj” Rahul Gandhi.

Mr Tharoor on Saturday reacted to United States President Donald Trump’s meeting with the newly-elected New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, who have exchanged barbs during the recently concluded NYC mayoral election. While both Trump and Mamdani had taken potshots at each other in the lead-up to the mayoral elections in New York, the Friday meeting between them at the White House was laced with bonhomie.

Mr Tharoor has praised Mr Trump’s meeting with newly elected New York mayor Zohran Mamdani at the White House as upholding democratic spirit despite making fierce attacks against each other during the polls. “Learn to cooperate once the election is over” was his takeaway from the Friday meeting.

Tharoor, whose views have lately caused friction within his party, shared a video of the two American leaders and said he wants to see similar levels of cooperation in India. “I would love to see more of this in India — and am trying to do my part,” Tharoor said, reacting to Trump-Mamdani meet.

“This is how democracy should work. Fight passionately for your point of view in elections, with no rhetorical holds barred. But once it’s over, & the people have spoken, learn to cooperate with each other in the common interests of the nation you are both pledged to serve. I would love to see more of this in India – and am trying to do my part (sic),” Mr Tharoor wrote on his X handle.

BJP praised Tharoor’s remarks with a dig at the Congress leadership. Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala claimed that through his “cryptic” post, the MP has reminded his party leaders to put the country first instead of the Gandhi family. “Once again, Dr Tharoor has chosen to remind Congress that they should put national interests above family interests and should serve and behave democratically rather than behave like sore losers,” said Poonawala in a video message.

He pointed out that the Congress cries foul after losing elections and that Tharoor has reminded them that rival parties must come together to serve the national cause after the elections are over. “But will Rahul Gandhi get the message?” he wondered, warning that the Congress might issue “another fatwa” against the diplomat-turned-politician.

“Perhaps this is a real cryptic message to Congress that it must get out of its emergency mindset and behave like a mature opposition. But will Rahul Gandhi get the message? No, he might in fact get another fatwa issued against Dr Tharoor,” said Poonawala.

Responding to a clip from the meeting, Mr Tharoor said that “this is how democracy should work.” Following the meeting, at the press interaction in the Oval Office, Trump said the meeting was very “productive” adding that New York would “hopefully have a great mayor.”

“We agree on a lot more than I would have thought,” the President said, his occasional scowl replaced with a wide smile as he praised Mr Mamdani and predicted success for his tenure leading New York. Mr Trump’s warm welcome of Mr Mamdani and their televised tete-a-tete in the Oval Office captivated political enthusiasts and moved the headlines into more positive territory for the president after weeks of politically damaging coverage of files related to the late Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who was once a friend of Trump.

Trump was generous in his praise for Mamdani, saying he was “confident” that the Democrat would do a “good job” and adding that he would “surprise some Conservative people.” On a reporter’s question to Mamdani on whether he would reaffirm that Trump was a “fascist”, the US President quipped that the NYC mayor could reply in the affirmative. “That’s okay, you can say it. It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind,” Trump said.

Mr Tharoor’s recent remarks have ruffled feathers within the Congress party, the latest being the Thiruvananthapuram MP’s praise for Mr Modi. In a post on X, Tharoor said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Ramnath Goenka Lecture served as both an economic outlook and a cultural call to action. He added that he was “glad” to be in the audience during the speech “despite battling a bad cold and cough.”

His statements drew sharp criticism from his own party, with Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit calling him a “hypocrite.” Another party leader, Supriya Shrinate, said she found nothing “praiseworthy” in the PM’s speech. Tharoor also miffed his party leaders with an article for international media organisation Project Syndicate, headlined ‘Indian Politics Are a Family Business’. In the piece, Tharoor highlighted that dynastic politics prevails across the political spectrum, and called it a “grave threat” to Indian democracy.

Following the Bihar Assembly election results, Tharoor said there would have to be “have to be some very serious introspection.” “I don’t just mean introspection, sitting and thinking, but also studying what went wrong, what were the tactical, messaging or organisational mistakes,” he said, while also adding that he was not invited to campaign in Bihar.

“I was not invited to campaign in Bihar and therefore, I cannot give you any first-hand information. But I’ve been talking to people…” he said, adding that he had got a sense of what needed to be analysed.