Shashi Tharoor faces criticism from Congress over Kashmir remark

Senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has come under fire from within the party after he described the situation in Jammu and Kashmir as moving towards greater normalcy. During his Srinagar visit, Tharoor also met Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. Slamming the Thiruvananthapuram MP, Congress chief spokesperson in J&K Ravinder Sharma said that he should also meet Kashmiri people to know the reality.  Tharoor, in his X post, mentioned that when he arrived for the meeting with Sinha, he was having a conversation with the president of the Kashmiri Writers' Association and the Women's Organisation. "In Srinagar! Had the honour of an excellent meeting with Lieutenant-Governor Shri Manoj Sinha at Lok Bhavan today. We discussed the situation in the state and the encouraging progress towards normalcy," the Congress MP said.

In Srinagar! Had the honour of an excellent meeting with Lieutenant-Governor Shri @manojsinha_ at Lok Bhavan today. We discussed the situation in the state and the encouraging progress towards normalcy. When I arrived he was chatting to the President of the Kashmiri Writers’… pic.twitter.com/hm1lz3qDGF

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 21, 2026

His remarks did not go down well with the Congress leadership of the state. Taking a dig at Tharoor for his meeting with the J&K's Lieutenant Governor, Sharma said that Kashmiris were also wanting to meet the Congress MP. “People of Kashmir too were expecting you to meet them to have a better understanding of the ground realities. Atleast could've spared sometime to meet own partymen fighting for statehood snatched from us 7 years ago,” Sharma responded to Tharoor’s X post.
Earlier, Tharoor also faced backlash from the leaders of his party for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for conveying India’s concerns to US President Donald Trump during the G7 Summit. Notably, Congress leader Pawan Khera criticised Tharoor over his praise for PM Modi. In a post on X, Khera wrote, "My senior colleague Shashi Tharoor's admiration for PM Modi appears to have transcended the limitations of the physical world. He now seems capable of hearing what Modi doesn't even say."