New Delhi, August 28: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday wrote back to KPCC President Mullapally Ramachandran who had sent him the notice for supporting the stance of two other party leaders -- Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Jairam Ramesh -- that demonising Prime Minister Narendra Modi all the time would not work. In his letter to Ramachandran, Shashi Tharoor urged Congress to think how the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to increase its vote share over the last five years.

"Modi has done little worth praising. But he has been effective in raising his vote percentage across India from 31 percent in 2014 to 37 percent in 2019, and as a party which stayed at around 19% in both elections, we in the Congress need to make an effort to understand why," Tharoor wrote. The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he would be grateful if he could point to the precise statement "he made that does that, because he has done no such thing". Jairam Ramesh Hits Out at Modi Government Over RBI Payout of Rs 1.76 Lakh Crore to Centre.

"On the contrary, I would urge you to look at parliamentary debates and find me, one leader from our state who has made 10 per cent of the effort, I made to study, research, anticipate and oppose the Modi government on every Bill they sought to introduce against the spirit of Constitution and the values of the Congress," Tharoor said. The Congress lawmaker said, "he is astonished to hear that he justified Prime Minister Narendra Modi". Kerala Congress Leaders Fume Over Shashi Tharoor for Backing Jairam Ramesh’s Pro-Modi Remark.

"I intervened more than 50 times in Parliament and spoke against 17 Bills with courage and conviction. Can any of my critics from Kerala say they have done so? Who on earth can credibly accuse me of a "volte face" from the stand I took when I sat alongside you in the last Lok Sabha?," asked Tharoor. He ends his letter by stating, "I urge my fellow Congressmen from Kerala to respect my approach even when they don't agree with it."

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh recently said demonizing PM Narendra Modi hasn't helped Congress in any way, it opened up a Pandora's Box. He also praised the work done by the Modi government. Besides Tharoor, Abhishek Manu Singhvi backed Ramesh.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 28, 2019 08:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).