THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After the standoff with Congress high command over his mellowed relations with the Modi government, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has come out against the LDF government for giving a humanitarian aid to Turkiye three years ago when a devastating earthquake hit that country. Before leaving the country as part of an all-party delegation to foreign countries, Tharoor in his post on X termed Kerala’s aid as a ‘misplaced generosity’. Tharoor, however, was silent on the Modi government’s aid to Turkiye in the wake of the earthquake.
Posting a May 23, 2023 news report from a news channel about Kerala government’s Rs 10 crore aid to Turkiye, Tharoor said: “I hope the Government of Kerala reflects on its misplaced generosity, after seeing Turkiye’s behaviour two years later!”.
However, following the earthquake, the Modi government under ‘Operation Dost’ had sent around Rs 7 crore worth of relief materials to both Syria and Turkiye after the disaster in February 2023. India’s relations with Turkiye hit a low after the Indo-Pak conflict weeks ago as the former alleged that Pakistan had used Turkish-made drones against India. Following this, the Union government, various agencies and private business establishments had terminated contracts with Turkish companies.
Meanwhile, Tharoor’s silence on the Modi government’s assistance to Turkiye has irked the Congress leadership as it is highly critical of his growing affinity towards the saffron party. Interestingly, the CPM central leadership has also taken a favourable position on the Tharoor-Congress conflict. “Though we agree with the Congress stand that the representative of the party must be included in any of the delegations, we also said that Tharoor should not be left out, given his credentials,” a CPM central leader told TNIE on condition of anonymity. Though TNIE tried to contact CPM state secretary M V Govindan for a response, he was not available.
Interestingly, Tharoor in his post on X has also cited Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency. “Not to mention that the people of Wayanad (just to take one Kerala example) could have used those ten crores far better..”, he said. The constituency was represented by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi earlier. It is now represented by Priyanka Gandhi.