Tharoor does it again,exceeded brief in attack on media

For his provocative forays into areas which seasoned Congressmen normally avoid,another reprieve may not be waiting for Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor....

For his provocative forays into areas which seasoned Congressmen normally avoid,another reprieve may not be waiting for Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor.

Top Congress sources said the party leadership veered around to this view in the wake of his frontal attack on the media last Saturday,which they contended was unnecessary and avoidable as the brief on that day to him was to only issue a clarification on his purported comments on Jawaharlal Nehrus foreign policy.

That is not an incorrect assessment, a senior leader asserted when asked if Tharoor would face action for any more such transgressions.

The junior minister had reportedly been directed to hold a press conference and refute comments attributed to him against Nehrus foreign policy,while speaking at the Indian Council of World Affairs on Friday last week. Tharoor said that Lord Bhiku Parekh,who also spoke at the function,had actually made the criticism,which he had only summarised.

According to sources,Tharoor,in fact,initially shied away from making a clarification on the controversy,but had to change his mind after the party leadership talked to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,who then spoke to him.

However,Tharoor chose not to stick to the plot and just refute comments attributed to him,but went ahead to make a scathing attack on the media. Naming three prominent publications,Tharoor charged that they were doing a disservice to the country with inaccurate,dishonest,irresponsible and tendentious reporting.

In a party where speaking out of turn has always been taken adversely,several Congress leaders on Tuesday said Tharoors now frequent breaches had not gone down well but had been forgiven so far considering the immense talent and experience that he brought with him.

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It is in any case an exception in the Congress that a first-time MP makes it to the Union Cabinet. The leadership so far has taken a lenient position even when he Tharoor has chosen to express views on critical issues like a senior Cabinet minister, a senior minister told The Indian Express.

On Tuesday,Twitter Tharoor,as he has come to be known,left on a long official tour to South America,news of which came from his continuing tweets on Twitter.