Congress MP Shashi Tharoor sparked a fresh controversy on Tuesday by praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi again.
In a post on X, Tharoor said he attended an event in Delhi where Modi spoke of India's "constructive impatience" for development and strongly pushed for a post-colonial mindset.
Praising Modi's speech, Thiruvananthapuram MP said, "The PM’s address served as both an economic outlook and a cultural call to action, urging the nation to be restless for progress. Glad to have been in the audience despite battling a bad cold and cough!"
PM emphasised that India is no longer just an 'emerging market' but an 'emerging model' for the world, noting its economic resilience, he added.
PM Modi said he'd been accused of being in 'election mode' all the time, but he was really in 'emotional mode' to redress the problems of the people".
A significant part of the speech was dedicated to overturning Macaulay's 200-year legacy of "slave mentality", Tharoor said.
PM Modi appealed for a 10-year national mission to restore pride in India's heritage, languages, and knowledge systems.
Tharoor's remarks on the PM's address come days after the Congress leader kicked up a row when he said that reducing veteran BJP leader L K Advani's long years of service to one episode, however significant, is unfair.
He was reacting to criticism over his birthday greetings for Advani.
The Congress had distanced itself from his remarks and said Tharoor speaks for himself, and the fact that he continues to do so as a CWC member reflects the party's democratic and liberal spirit.
Tharoor had earlier slammed dynastic politics across political spectrum. He said that the influence of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has cemented the idea that political ladership can be a birthright, as he argued that it is high time that India traded "dynasty for meritocracy". The BJP latched on to Tharoor's remarks, calling it a "very insightful piece" on how Indian politics has become a family business.
(With inputs from PTI)