NEW DELHI: Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday played down controversy surrounding the reports of rift with the Congress party after his recent podcast where he was cited saying that he had “other options” if the party did not require his services.
” You all heard the podcast, what was the controversy about?…I still haven’t understood the controversy…now that you have heard the whole podcast, can you tell me what your question is, I am happy to respond…it is a podcast, a 45-minute conversation about life and pursuits of Happiness, nothing there much about any political controversy,” he said.
He further confirmed that he would attend the meeting which is set to take place on Friday and it would also have top brass leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge.
“A meeting of party has been called on Friday, I will be there with everyone else,” he said.

Podcast, selfie and a cryptic post: The events that created the ‘controversy’

The controversy around Tharoor and his reported rift with the party erupted following a series of events that led to the experts connecting dots of the veteran leader’s dissatisfaction with his current position in the grand old party.
The veteran Congress leader on Saturday posted a quote by Thomas Gray– “Where ignorance is bliss, tis folly to be wise” — as the thought of the day.
Following this, in an interview with a Malayalam podcast, reported on Sunday, he warned that if the Congress failed to expand its appeal, it would remain in opposition for a third consecutive term in Kerala. He also remarked that many party workers felt a leadership vacuum within Kerala’s Congress. Citing his four-time election as MP from Thiruvananthapuram, he added that if the party no longer required his services, he had “other options,” including speaking tours and writing books.
The rumours intensified when he shared a selfie with Union minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday appreciating the revival of “long-stalled FTA negotiations” with Britain.