Letters: Congress' sycophancy

This refers to the report "Why Tharoor's sacking as spokesperson is a message to the party" (On The Beat, October 16). Zero tolerance to appreciating a positive development is the denial of the right to freedom of expression. Dropping the two-time Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor as Congress spokesperson, for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cleanliness drive, shows that there's only sycophancy in the Congress. Tharoor's sacking exposes the double standards of the grand old party: one for its party workers and another for the Gandhi family. No action was taken against Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on the Ordinance on convicted lawmakers. Had it been someone else, he or she would have been expelled from the party.

The Congress does not seem to believe in appreciating the positive things of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Instead of mooting disciplinary action, the Congress should have dismissed Tharoor's views as his personal, not that of the party's, or at least warned him to be careful in the future and rested the matter there. The Congress needs to learn a thing or two from Modi, who - soon after assuming office - lauded the previous governments for their contribution to the development of the country.

R Prabhu Raj Chennai

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