Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s selection of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor as one of the nine ambassadors of the Clean India campaign, and Tharoor’s subsequent adulation of Modi, have irked the Congress.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee-I (KPCC-I ) vice-president MM Hassan on Monday publicly asked Tharoor to stop praising Modi.

The KPCC-I is considering disciplinary action against Tharoor, whose remarks went against the party policy, he said.

“As a first step, we are asking him to stop praising Modi as his stance goes totally against the Congress’ ideals,” he added.

Kerala State Youth Congress President M Liju alleged that Tharoor is becoming a part of Modi’s communal agenda. Liju also criticised the former Union Minister for associating himself with Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

In a recent article, Tharoor said he feels honoured by the Prime Minister’s invitation to join the campaign.

“Which Indian worthy of the name would not be humbled to be tapped by his Prime Minister for a national cause?” he wondered. “I was the only politician, and worse, the only Congressman, on his list.”

He further recalled that Modi had, a year ago, invited him to exhort young Indians to vote.

Tharoor praised Modi for his initiative to clean up India and for using his prime ministerial position “to drive change from the top” as no individual Indian “can match the reach of a prime ministerial initiative.” “When a PM picks up a broom, it is news; the country pays attention,” he remarked.

“Let’s also remember that the Swachh Bharat campaign is an attempt by PM Modi to give a new fillip to a national effort of successive governments — one that has failed to achieve its objectives for years,” Tharoor said rather bluntly in his article. This is being construed as a snub mostly to the previous Congress governments.

Question of honour Responding to Tharoor’s article, former Union Minister Mani Shankar Iyer had said he was “honoured” not to be invited by Modi.

Responding to Hassan’s criticism, Tharoor said he is astonished by the allegation that he is turning pro-BJP. “Being receptive to specific statements or actions of BJP leaders does not remotely imply acceptance of the party’s core Hindutva agenda,” he tweeted.

Tharoor, a former UN bureaucrat and author, had courted controversy earlier too for praising Modi.

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