Earlier, Congress’s Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari had deviated from the party stand regarding the war in the Middle-East.
Two more Congress leaders have come out in support of the NDA government’s handling of the war in the Middle-East, deviating sharply from the party stand. While former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath, flatly said there is no LPG crisis, Anand Sharma, the foreign minister in the erstwhile UPA government, applauded India’s “diplomatic handling of the crisis” in a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter. In what could amplify any trouble within the party, he added, “National unity and a mature response guided by national interest is the need of the hour”.
Earlier, Congress’s Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari had deviated from the party stand regarding the war in the Middle-East. The party, though, had not commented on the matter. The two leaders’ comments had left the party red-faced earlier also, especially on the matter of Operation Sindoor. The party had benched them during the Op Sindoor debate in parliament.
This time, two more leaders had deviated from the party line.
“Indian diplomatic handling of the crisis has been mature and skillful avoiding potential minefields,” Sharma said in one of his 11 posts on the subject.
India’s response, he wrote, “must be backed by a national consensus and resolve”.
The government, he added, has held an all-party meeting to apprise political leaders about the policy decisions in “an unpredictable and volatile situation”.
“This national dialogue should be sustained. National unity and a mature response guided by national interest is the need of the hour,” he had added, clarifying that apart from the “historical and civilisational relations with Persia”, there is also the question of the energy crisis.
“The war has aggravated the energy, economic and global security challenges. Global Supply chains disruption, tremors in world markets and sharp depreciation of Rupee and national currencies presents an immediate and long term challenge that needs to be urgently tackled,” he wrote.
Also, “Critical energy supplies of Petroleum, LPG – PNG, 200 billion of Trade, the interest and security of 10 million strong Indian diaspora also almost 60 percent FOREX remittances have to be borne in mind,” he added, pointing to what is at stake, especially for the younger generation.
The stance was a notable departure from the line of the party, which has been vocal in its condemnation of the government, insisting that it has been following the lead of the US and Israel and turning against a longtime partner.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has claimed that the government has “surrendered”.
Kamal Nath, in face of multiple reports of LPG shortage, said, “There is no such shortage. It is just an atmosphere being created that there is a shortage.”
There is “no dearth of cooking gas” in the state, he said, accusing certain quarters of deliberately manufacturing panic for political gains.
Nath’s party has been consistently targeting the Central and the Madhya Pradesh government on the war, alleging delays in LPG supply and hardship faced by the public.
