Don't understand Tharoor's foreign accent: Goyal

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal today took a dig at Shashi Tharoor, saying he did not understand the Congress leader's "foreign accent".

While participating in the debate in the Lok Sabha on the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, Tharoor had attacked the government saying there was a "significant gap" between the government's rhetoric and action.

He had launched a scathing attack on the Modi government saing Nirav Modi, who had fled the country after allegedly duping state-run banks of crores of rupees, was photographed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Davos.

The Prime Minister had promised to be a "chowkidar", Tharoor had said.

While replying to the debate on the bill, Goyal said he did not understand the "foreign English accent" of Tharoor.

This was objected to by RSP member N K Premachandran, who is also Tharoor's fellow MP from Kerala.

He came to the Congress MP's defence, saying "It is not fair on the part of the minister" to make such a comment.

When Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar intervened in the matter, Premachandran retorted that he had every right to do so, since the minister had made an observation about a member of the opposition.

Known for his chaste English and good vocabulary, Tharoor is a two-time MP from Thiruvanathapuram in Kerala.

Prior to his entry in politics, Tharoor served extensively at the United Nations, where he had unsuccesfully contested for the UN Secretary General's post.