Overview
- Shashi Tharoor called LK Advani a true statesman in a birthday post and argued his decades in public life should not be reduced to one episode, citing Nehru’s China setback and Indira Gandhi’s Emergency as comparisons.
- Supreme Court advocate Sanjay Hegde publicly rejected Tharoor’s framing, invoking Advani’s 1990 Rath Yatra and arguing it cannot be treated as a single episode given its contested legacy.
- Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said Tharoor “speaks for himself” and that the party dissociates from his remarks, framing his latitude as part of the INC’s democratic spirit.
- BJP figures used the Congress statement to attack the opposition, with party spokesmen accusing Congress of intolerance and taking jibes about internal control by its first family.
- The exchange followed high-profile birthday greetings for Advani from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leaders, who lauded the Bharat Ratna awardee’s contributions on his 98th birthday.