Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who recently sparked controversy for his remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech, said on Tuesday that people today are only interested in “ideological purity,” and that such an approach will not help build a nation.
Sharing a snippet of a video from Amrita News on his X account, where he was addressing an event, Tharoor said, “The point is that this is the kind of atmosphere in our country now. People are only interested in ideological purity. You can’t get things done that way.”
He added, “I’m sorry, but somebody has won the election and has become the government. If you have won the election in your state, you become the government. If your state does not cooperate with the Centre, how will you get things done? To my mind, it’s a no-brainer. It is in the interest of the people of India and the citizens of Kerala. I disagree with the ruling party, but they are the ruling party; they have a mandate from the nation. I will work with them.”
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 25, 2025
Tharoor further said that if the central government introduces a scheme with conditions — for instance, offering funds to the state only if a particular task is completed — he would discuss it with the Centre.
“I will see how I can implement it within the framework of my convictions, but I will take the money because my people in my state need the money. That kind of cooperation, to my mind, is essential,” the Congress MP added.
He cited a recent example from Kerala, where a central scheme was rejected and funds were denied, even though the state “is broke and needs the money.”
“There are government schools where roofs are leaking or collapsing, where we don’t even have money for desks and blackboards, and yet we are acting ideologically pure and refusing money from the Centre. That’s crazy. It’s taxpayers’ money. It’s our money,” Tharoor said.
The Congress leader faced sharp criticism from within his own party after his earlier comments on the Prime Minister’s speech. Responding to this, Tharoor said that even a neutral post he made describing the speech was attacked as an attempt to praise the Prime Minister. “I didn’t say a single word of praise; I just described the speech,” he clarified.