The Hindu Business Line : Who is speaking for Congress?

What is all the bewildering uproar over the tweet on the ‘cattle class’ and ‘holy cows’ sent out by the hapless Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Shashi Tharoor, in aid of? First, the very propriety of a Minister going about tweeting is questioned by some sanctimonious persons. Some others defend it on the ground that it shows Mr Tharoor as really an accessible and even pally personality, in contrast to the pompous stuffed-shirts peopling the corridors of power.

Philosophical debate

For aught I know, Mr Tharoor can tweet till all the (holy) cows come home, since the world is going to be neither poorer nor richer on that account. There is no point trying to convert it into a philosophical debate on whether it is below the dignity of a Minister or whether it helps him identify himself with the much coveted status of aam aadmi.

Of course, if you force me to take a definitive position between the two, I would prefer a Minister to stay clear of it, simply for one reason: Having got myself registered as a Twitter-bug with the right to roam the tweeters’ territory, I find it a waste of time, although occasional messages from the Twitter team about my being followed by hundreds of tweeters, including some with suspicious-sounding feminine names, make me alternate between horripilation and jubilation! Tweeting has nothing to do with chumminess or clamminess!

The starting point of the commotion is Mr Tharoor’s mention of cattle class and holy cows. This was in a private tweet to a journalist who tweeted to Mr Tharoor about his willingness to fly cattle class. The journalist, in my view, had no business to bring the exchange into the open.

However, once it became common knowledge, Ms Jayanthi Natarajan, presumed to be the spokesperson for the Congress, administered a harsh public rebuke to Mr Tharoor (“The party strongly disapproves the statement of the Minister. It is unacceptable, not respecting political or any other sensibilities”) and ominously hinted at disciplinary action.

The next day, Mr Manish Tiwari, also of the Congress (and supposedly reflecting its view), says that “appropriate action will be taken (against Mr Tharoor) at the appropriate time.”

Public dressing down

But, on the sidelines of an Iftar party hosted by him, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, reportedly played down the entire episode, describing Mr Tharoor’s tweet as just a joke and implying that the whole thing was overkill by spokespersons.

What I am concerned about in all the hullabaloo generated by poor Mr Tharoor’s foray into frivolity is who precisely is speaking for the Congress and exactly on whose briefing. If the Prime Minister’s comment is to be taken as the authoritative stand of the Congress, on whose authority did Ms Natarajan and Mr Manish Tiwari earlier go out on a limb humiliating Mr Tharoor in public, and on whose prompting did the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Mr Ashok Gehlot, call Mr Tharoor’s tweet “condemnable” and want him to resign? Is it proper for high personages of the Congress to give a public dressing down to a distinguished Minister of their own party at their own whim and fancy without first checking up the nature of the response with the Prime Minister (who appoints the Ministers) and the President of the Congress (who is responsible for its public pronouncements)?

Remember, it was the Congress which brought Mr Tharoor into its fold and he won the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat for it at his very first try. He has certainly lent the party a certain distinction. I personally feel that Mr Tharoor should not take this lying down, even if it means quitting the Government.

B. S. RAGHAVAN