External affairs minister of state Shashi Tharoor?s attempt to bury the controversy over his now famous ?cattle class? tweet that virtually poked fun at the Congress?s austerity drive ? the minister said ?sorry? ? seemed to have failed to sway the party leadership. The party on Friday hinted at ?appropriate action? against the junior minister.
?Congress party condemns what Tharoor had said… the party will take whatever action is appropriate and necessary at an appropriate time,? party spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters this evening but refused to spell out what the action could be.
Tewari endorsed Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot?s reported comment that Tharoor should quit. ?It is only natural that such type of reactions will be there when you have statements like this,? the spokesperson said. At an Iftar party in Jaipur on Thursday, Gehlot had said it was unbecoming of Tharoor to make such ?irresponsible? remarks and that he should tender his resignation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, when asked about Tharoor?s controversial comment at an Iftar party he hosted this evening , said ?it was a joke?. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, declined to comment.
Tharoor, presently on a two- nation visit to Africa, had in his latest tweet from Liberia said that his intention was not to disrespect economy class travellers. ?Many have misunderstood… To those hurt by the belief that my repeating the phrase showed contempt: sorry,? he said. Tharoor had also expressed satisfaction that his apology had been taken note of, through a subsequent post on Twitter saying, ?glad to see my tweeting last night was noticed?. He is scheduled to return on September 22.
What seems to have tipped the scales against Tharoor is his refusal to log off from Twitter and worse, allow his officer on special duty, Jacob Joseph, to ?retweet? remarks on the networking site ridiculing Congress spokespersons.
?I would not like to dignify the commnent of an aide by commenting on it from this podium. Kindly do not give undue and unnecessary importance to people who have no contribution to public life,? Tewari said.