Shashi Tharoor Fires Fresh Salvo at Sushma Swaraj, Says EAM Gave More Attention to Narendra Modi Than India in UNGA Speech

New Delhi, October 2: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday fired a fresh salvo at External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given more attention than India in her speech at the United Nation's General Assembly last week. Shashi Tharoor said Sushma Swaraj mentioned PM Modi 10 times and spoke about India only five times.

“Bit rich to be criticised by the BJP for describing Sushma Swaraj’s speech as a campaign speech. She mentioned Narendra Modi 10 times during her address and spoke about/on behalf of India only five times. If you use the UN as a political platform you can’t hide behind the flag,” Tharoor said on Twitter. He said Swaraj's speech was BJP slogans.

“Most of the first half of the Sushma Swaraj speech was devoted to plugging Narendra Modi’s vision for “New India”: Swachh Bharat, Swasth Bharat, Samarth Bharat, Surakshit Bharat, Shikshit Bharat, Viksit Bharat, Urjawan Bharat, Shaktiman Bharat. Was this a UN speech or BJP slogans?” he asked. This came after the BJP slammed Tharoor for his reported criticism of her UN speech.

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi had said the Congress is increasingly seen to be standing with Pakistan as Tharoor’s statement was not an isolated incident and the opposition party often spoke the language of the neighbouring country. He had told a press conference that the Congress should apologise to the nation and said its stand on various issues appeared similar to that of Pakistan in “intent, language and style”.

On Sunday, Tharoor had reportedly said in Kerala that Swaraj’s speech was aimed at her party’s voters on the subject of Pakistan rather than constructing a positive image of India in the world.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 02, 2018 08:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).