Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s fulsome praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handling of foreign policy earlier this week, coupled with an implied criticism of his party’s stance on Operation Sindoor, may seem gratuitously provocative. It’s actually very much in character for a leader known to speak his mind.

The intrepid trio of Tharoor, Salman Khurshid and Manish Tewari, in their endorsement of the government’s response to the Pahalgam massacre, have gained popularity—all the more because party colleagues persist in treating them as rogue elements.

By owning and embracing the leaders who answered the call of duty and participated whole-heartedly in India’s global outreach, the Congress could have won public approval. It could have convinced voters that it is committed, no less than the current dispensation, to guarding India’s sovereignty and standing firm against the enemy. In casting them as disloyal, the Congress stance on national security now comes across as somewhat iffy and also explains why the party has been hollowed out in the last decade.

Tharoor has always been bipartisan in handing out praise, both to Modi and to the CPM, which is the Congress’ chief rival in Kerala. At the same time, he has been a trenchant critic of Modi. Last year, he lambasted the Modi government for seeking to “delegitimise dissent” by equating criticism of the PM with being anti-nationalist.

Manish Tewari deviated from the official party line in 2022, when he supported........

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