Under fire from even his own party for his ?cattle class? Twitter remark, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee while the party told him bluntly to ?desist from any comment or action, even jokingly, that would hurt sentiments of the common man?.
Soon after his return from a visit to Liberia and Ghana, Tharoor met Gandhi amid demands for his resignation ?Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot was the first party leader to openly demand his resignation as MoS. Tharoor did not speak to waiting reporters after his meetings with Gandhi and Mukherjee.
While it was not known what transpired at these meetings, Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said ?any well-wisher of the party, government and Tharoor will advise him to desist from any comment or action, even jokingly, that would hurt sentiments of the common man.?
His comment on Twitter last week, describing airline economy class flyers as ?cattle class?, had invited sharp rebuke from the AICC.
?We totally condemn it (Tharoor?s comments). The statement is not in sync with our political culture. His remarks are not acceptable given the sensitivity of all Indians,? AICC spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan had said.
The party even seconded Gehlot?s demand for Tharoor?s resignation but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to play down the comments, saying ?it was a joke?. When AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi was asked about Tharoor at an Iftaar hosted by the PM, he said whatever had to be said had been said by the party.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari had said that the ?Congress will take whatever action is deemed appropriate at an appropriate time.? Asked about Gehlot?s demand, Tewari said, ?Obviously, when you have statements like this (from Tharoor), it is bound to get reactions.?