New Delhi:
Shashi Tharoor joined the list of Congress leaders who have came out saying that constant criticism and demonisation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not the best thing to do for the opposition.
Tharoor said that praising the prime minister for doing the right things would lend credibility to the opposition's criticism of him. His comments back those by his collegues Abhishek Singhvi and Jairam Ramesh.
Tharoor said while reply to a user on Twitter, "As you know, I have argued for six years now that Narendra Modi should be praised whenever he says or does the right thing, which would add credibility to our criticisms whenever he errs. I welcome others in opposition coming around to a view for which I was excoriated at the time."
. As you know, I have argued for six years now that @narendramodi should be praised whenever he says or does the right thing, which would add credibility to our criticisms whenever he errs. I welcome others in Oppn coming around to a view for which i was excoriated at the time!
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 23, 2019
Ramesh was the first tp voice such an opinion after he said that Modi's governance model was "not a complete negative story" and added that not recognising his work and demonising him all the time was not going to help.
Ramesh had said that it was time we recognized Modi's work and what he did between 2014 and 2019 due to which he was voted back to power by over "30 per cent of the electorate, He had also cited how successful the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUJ) had turned out for the prime minister.
Backing Ramesh's comment, Singhvi said has Modi's acts must be judged issue-wise, not person-wise.
"Always said demonising Modi wrong. No only is he PM of nation, a one way opposition actually helps him," Singhvi had tweeted while echoing Ramesh's views.
"Acts are always good, bad and indifferent-they must be judged issue-wise and not person-wise. Certainly, Ujjawala scheme is only one amongst other good deeds," he said.
Former president Pranab Mukherjee's daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee also agreed with Singhvi saying, "Very true sir. Nation building is an ongoing process carried on by successive governments. Hope Mr Modi and team also realise this."
"Instead of trying to diminish Pandit Nehru they should accept his and Congress's immense contribution and carry it forward. Criticisms should be on policies, not personalities," she said.
However, not all Congress leaders agreed with this. Former Union minister and Congress veteran KK Tewary said some "self propagating" leaders in the Congress had "hijacked" the party and were making all kinds of comments that were not in the interest of the party.
"Some self-propagating leaders in the party, who never fight elections and find a sanctuary in the Rajya Sabha, have hijacked the party," he said.
(With PTI Inputs)
