SRINAGAR: Senior Congress leader and Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor has found himself at the centre of a fresh political controversy after his remarks on the improving situation in Jammu and Kashmir triggered criticism from within his own party, exposing differences between the Congress leadership and its Jammu and Kashmir unit over the prevailing conditions in the Union Territory.
The row erupted after Tharoor, who was in Srinagar to participate in the Nalanda Dialogues, met Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhavan and later shared his observations on social media.
In a post on X, Tharoor described his meeting with the Lieutenant Governor as “excellent” and spoke of what he termed “encouraging progress towards normalcy” in Jammu and Kashmir. He said discussions focused on the situation in the Union Territory and noted that he had witnessed what he described as a positive outreach by the administration.
“When I arrived, he was chatting to the President of the Kashmiri Writers’ Association and the Women’s Organisation — a positive outreach that I welcomed,” Tharoor wrote, adding that while many challenges remained, he left the meeting feeling “more positives” than he had felt for some time.
However, the remarks quickly drew criticism from leaders of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC), who questioned Tharoor’s assessment and expressed disappointment that he had not interacted with local residents or party workers during his visit.
JKPCC chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma publicly challenged Tharoor’s observations, stating that the Congress MP should have met people in Kashmir to gain a better understanding of conditions on the ground.
Responding to Tharoor’s post, Sharma wrote that the people of Kashmir were expecting him to engage with them to understand the “ground realities”. He further remarked that Tharoor could have spared time to meet party workers who, according to him, have been fighting for the restoration of statehood since Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised and downgraded from a state to a Union Territory in 2019.
The criticism highlights a growing divergence between Tharoor’s public remarks and the position consistently articulated by the Congress leadership on Jammu and Kashmir. The party has repeatedly criticised the BJP-led Centre over the abrogation of Article 370, the bifurcation of the former state, and the delay in restoring full statehood.
Political observers noted that Tharoor’s reference to “encouraging progress towards normalcy” appears to contrast with the Congress party’s broader narrative, which has maintained that normalcy cannot be considered complete until democratic and constitutional concerns, including restoration of statehood, are addressed.
The controversy has also provided ammunition to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which cited Tharoor’s remarks as an acknowledgement of improvements in the security and governance situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
BJP spokesperson Abhijeet Jasrotia said the Congress leader’s observations reflected realities on the ground. He argued that incidents such as stone-pelting had significantly declined after the abrogation of Article 370 and claimed that official data showed a substantial reduction in local recruitment into militant ranks.
The latest dispute comes against the backdrop of another recent disagreement between Tharoor and sections of the Congress leadership over his comments relating to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his interactions with US President Donald Trump during the G7 Summit.
Earlier, senior Congress leader Pawan Khera had criticised Tharoor for remarks interpreted as praise for the Prime Minister’s handling of issues concerning Indian sailors caught in the ongoing tensions involving Iran and the United States. Tharoor subsequently defended his comments, stating that they were based on widely reported media accounts and insisting that he had neither misrepresented nor distorted any facts.
The Kashmir controversy has further intensified scrutiny of Tharoor’s positions, with critics inside the party questioning whether his recent public interventions align with the Congress’s official stand on key national issues.
While Tharoor has not responded directly to the criticism from the Jammu and Kashmir Congress unit, the episode has once again exposed internal differences within the party, particularly on issues relating to Jammu and Kashmir and the Centre’s policies in the region.
The development comes at a politically sensitive time as opposition parties continue to press the Union Government on the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, while the BJP maintains that security, governance and developmental indicators demonstrate growing stability and normalcy in the Union Territory.
