Latest news with #Tharoor
India Today
an hour ago
- Politics
- India Today
Kerala mountaineer stuck at Alaska peak rescued, back safe at base camp
Shaikh Hasan Khan, a mountaineer from Kerala who was stranded on Mount Denali in Alaska due to a severe snowstorm, has been rescued and is now safe at the base camp. Congress MP Anto Antony confirmed the development, stating that Khan is doing also reportedly spoke with his family after his safe return. Khan, a Government Secretariat employee and an experienced climber who previously scaled Mount Everest, had been attempting to hoist the Indian flag atop North America's highest peak as a tribute to the Indian Army's Operation extreme weather conditions left him unable to descend, forcing him to send out distress messages seeking urgent rescue. His last known communication was on June 10, when he informed his family of a critical shortage of food and water. The same day, Khan posted a video on Instagram from Talkateena, Alaska, showing a Climber's Memorial at a cemetery for mountaineers who lost their lives at Denali, also known as Mount silence that followed sparked a flurry of diplomatic and political efforts. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking immediate intervention and urging the Indian Embassy in the United States to act MP Shashi Tharoor also stepped in, calling Khan a 'heroic young explorer' in a post on X. In a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Tharoor included Khan's passport and satellite contact information to expedite coordination with US authorities. 'This young Indian, whose pursuits have brought quiet distinction to our country, now finds himself in a precarious and life-threatening situation,' Tharoor IN THIS STORY#Kerala
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
CPI(M) says setback in Nilambur bypoll will cause UDF to ‘implode'
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has said a possible setback in the Nilambur Assembly bypoll in Kerala would cause the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) alliance to 'implode.' CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan told reporters on Friday that the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leadership had expressed annoyance at 'the ham-handed manner' in which the Congress handled the campaign, including a marked lack of tact in placating potential allies and turning them into enemies instead. He said senior Congress leaders' open criticism of the younger leadership's juvenile publicity stunts and political gimmickry exposed the deep fissures in the party. 'Their palpable bitterness foreshadowed the next bout of self-destructive factional fighting in the Congress ahead of the local body polls in 2025 and the Assembly elections in 2026', Mr. Govindan added. He said Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Shashi Tharoor, MP, complained that the State leadership willfully excluded him from the Nilambur by-poll campaign. (Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph, MLA, stated that Mr. Tharoor topped the list of 'star UDF campaigners' in Nilambur). Mr. Govindan said Mr. Tharoor had publicly admitted to having profound differences of opinion with the All India Congress Committee (AICC) leadership and has reportedly sought an appointment with Rahul Gandhi to air his grievances. Mr. Govindan said Mr. Tharoor's mutiny seemed ominous for the Congress. He said the falsehoods, historical distortions, conspiracy theories, petty political theatre, social media antics and cheap publicity stunts marked the UDF's 'laughable campaign' in Nilambur. Mr. Govindan said the CPI(M) State committee was yet to conduct a granular analysis of the voting pattern in Nilambur. 'However, the party had waged a successful political campaign in Nilambur. It fielded its candidate and used the hustings as a political platform to successfully convey the LDF's good governance and secular positioning to the electorate', he said. Slams BJP The CPI(M) State committee slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for abandoning India's storied Non-Alignment Movement (NAM)-informed foreign policy and playing second fiddle to 'the expansionary war-mongering of the Israel-U.S. axis.' Mr. Govindan said the Central government was tangibly fearful of condemning Israel's attack on Iran and its genocidal bombing campaign over Palestine, chiefly Gaza.
News18
6 hours ago
- Politics
- News18
'List Included His Name, Was Invited': Congress Debunks Shashi Tharoor's 'Exclusion' Claim
Last Updated: KPCC chief Sunny Joseph denied Shashi Tharoor's claim of being excluded from the Congress star campaigners list for the Nilambur bypoll, stating his name was included. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief Sunny Joseph on Friday denied Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's claims of being left out of the party's star campaigners list for the bypoll in the Nilambur constituency in Thiruvananthapuram. Joseph also said the party had published the list officially and had submitted it to the Election Commission, and that Tharoor was abroad with the parliamentary delegation during that time. 'We had published the list and submitted it to the Election Commission," Joseph said while talking to reporters. 'The list included Shashi Tharoor's name. He was abroad most of the time, and then in Delhi. I don't know if he even came to Kerala," he added. On Thursday, Tharoor had said he has differences of opinion with some in the party leadership, but he is not going to speak about them in light of the bypoll in the Nilambur constituency. Tharoor had also claimed Congress had excluded him from its list of star campaigners. Speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, Tharoor, who came under attack from some party colleagues for supporting the Modi government's stand following the Pahalgam terror attack, said that the Congress, its values, and its workers are very dear to him. He said he has worked closely with party workers for 16 years and regards them as close friends and brothers. Tharoor, however, did not clarify whether his differences of opinion were with the national or state leadership. The Thiruvananthapuram MP indicated that he might talk about those differences after the bypoll results. Tharoor's remarks come at a time when the Congress has not publicly backed him, after a party leader described him as the 'super spokesperson of the BJP. Former Congress MP Udit Raj had termed Tharoor as the 'super spokesperson" of the BJP over his remarks during his international delegation visits when he allegedly said that India crossed the LoC for the first time in 2015. Responding to the same, Tharoor on Thursday termed it as a 'misconception". Defending his decision to accept the Centre's invite to head one of the delegations, Tharoor said that when he became the chairman of the External Affairs Committee of the Parliament, he had made it clear that he was focused on India's foreign policy and its national interest and not the foreign policy of the Congress and BJP. 'I have not changed my line. When an issue concerning the nation comes up, we are all obligated to work and speak for the country. What I said during 'Operation Sindoor' was my own opinion. 'The Centre asked for my services. Indeed, my party did not. So, I proudly did my duty as an Indian citizen," he said. First Published: June 20, 2025, 13:15 IST
New Indian Express
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
‘Pavangal' sparked EMS's interest in Marxist ideology, says Tharoor
'The fire ignited by Hugo burned brightly in young political minds of the time. The novel stirred a generation not merely to weep, but to act,' he said. Tharoor was speaking at the launch of 'Pardon My French,' book shelf at DC Books store here on Thursday. He also had a conversation with French Ambassador Thierry Mathou at the event. 'Pavangal' changed the very trajectory of Malayalam literature and social thought. 'For the first time, readers here encountered a literary hero like Jean Valjean - broken by systems, redeemed by compassion, awakened to justice. It lit the torch of conscience in countless readers,' he said. The book offered prominent modern novelists Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, O V Vijayan and others a new idiom of empathy, a new narrative possibility, a new lens through which to view the oppressed and the invisible, he said. According to Tharoor, reading French literature is to step into a world where beauty and pain walk hand in hand. 'The moral complexity of Camus, the passion of Hugo, the subtle defiance of Colette, the psychological depth of Duras... these are not just artistic achievements, but guides to understanding the human condition,' he said.
Mint
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Mint
Shashi Tharoor says ‘didn't get a missed call' for Kerala bypoll; Congress star campaigners list tells a different story
Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor on June 19 claimed he was not invited by the party to campaign for its candidate in the Nilambur Assembly byelection in Kerala. Tharoor even said that even got a missed call to campaign for the party's candidate in the bypolls held on June 19. 'It is true that I was not invited (to campaign). As you know, I was abroad for around 16 days. Even then, I did not get an invite or even a missed call...," Tharoor, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, told reporters when asked why he was absent from the party's campaign in Nilambur. Tharoor's remarks come on a day when Kerala's Nilambur seat is voting in the by-election. Tharoor was conspicuous by his absence during the campaigning while senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, drummed up support for the party candidate. "But regardless of whether I campaigned or not, I want the Congress to win in Nilambur. We have a good candidate there, and our workers have worked very hard,' he said. Tharoor was, however, among the list of star campaigners submitted to the Election Commission by the Congress party. According to the list of star campaigners submitted by the Congress to the Election Commission, Tharoor's name is in eighth place among the 40 people, including KC Venugopal, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, VD Satheesan and Ramesh Chennithala. According to the list of star campaigners submitted by the Congress to the Election Commission, Tharoor's name is in eighth place among the 40 people, including KC Venugopal, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, VD Satheesan and Ramesh Chennithala. Congress General Secretary Mukul Wasnik submitted the list to the Election Commission of India through an official letter dated June 2. The Election Commission officially communicated this list to the Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala, on June 5 for circulation to relevant authorities. The list is available on the Election Commission of India website. The bypoll was necessitated after the seat fell vacant since the two-time MLA PV Anvar, previously supported by the Left, switched allegiance to the Congress party. Anvar contested the election as an Independent. The Congress nominated Aryadan Shoukath, the son of former MLA Aryadan Mohammed, while the ruling LDF backed M Swaraj. 'Some differences of opinion' with Congress In the same conversation with reporters, Tharoor admitted that he has some differences of opinion with the party. Tharoor, however, said that he will discuss these differences privately when someone from the party approaches him. 'I have been working in Congress for the past 16 years. I have some differences of opinion with the party, and I will discuss them inside the I don't want to speak it. I need to meet and talk, let the time come, and I will discuss it,' Tharoor said. Tharoor, who took the India case post Operation Sindoor in foreign countries while heading an all-party delegation earlier this month, has, with his remarks, seemingly riled his party for showing support for the Narendra Modi government over recent military actions across the border in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Some Congress leaders even accused Tharoor of being a 'super spokesperson' for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. I was not invited (to campaign). Even then, I did not get an invite or even a missed call. On June 10, Tharoor called his meeting with Prime Minister Modi 'good, lively and informal'. PM Modi met the members of the all-party delegations of Operation Sindoor at his residence, 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, in New Delhi.
