Shashi Tharoor clarifies 'family-run party' remark, says 'Rahul Gandhi would be...'

After his remarks about Congress being a "family-run party", senior party leader and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Shashi Tharoor said his statements were "misinterpreted". In a clarification issued on X, he stated that the Nehru-Gandhi family is the "strength" of the grand old party.

"I see that a remark I made at a private event, which was not a formal statement crafted for public consumption, is being misrepresented by the usual people. Yes, I have frequently stated that the Nehru/Gandhi family's DNA is inextricably tied up with that of the Congress Party. The family is the strength of the party," the Thiruvananthapuram MP wrote.

Further, he said, "What I left unstated is that I have no doubt that Rahul Gandhi would be the overwhelming choice of Congress party workers in any poll within the party".

Tharoor's comments on Tuesday, when he suggested potential candidates for the Prime Minister's post in the event of an INDIA bloc victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, stirred a debate.

He said, "It's going to be either Mr Kharge, who then will be the first Dalit prime minister of India, or Rahul Gandhi, since in very many ways it (Congress) is a family-run party."

His remark about Congress as a "family-run party" raised many eyebrows and led to discussions.

Clarifying his statements made during a "private event", Tharoor emphasised that they were not an official public statement.

Expressing concern over the misrepresentation of his comments, Tharoor said, "Yes, I have frequently stated that the Nehru/Gandhi family's DNA is inextricably tied up with that of the Congress Party.

"What I left unstated is that I have no doubt that @RahulGandhi would be the overwhelming choice of Congress party workers in any poll within the party."