NEW DELHI: BJP leader Baijayant Panda on Monday took a swipe at Congress during the Lok Sabha debate on Operation Sindoor with a special mention of Shashi Tharoor. As Panda was making statement on government’s actions post-Pahalgam attack, an opposition MP remarked that the discussion was not interesting.In a split second, Panda responded sharply by saying that the discussion would have been more engaging had Congress allowed some of good speakers to participate in the discussion. The BJP leader then went on to directly refer to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.“It would have been truly enjoyable if you had also given a free hand. You have several leaders who could speak well on Operation Sindoor. I was listening — my friend, the honourable Shashi Tharoor Ji, speaks very well,” he said.“Though it’s a different matter that, for some time now, his party leadership hasn’t been allowing him to speak. But I was very pleased to see that no one could stop him from speaking in the national interest,” said Panda in Lok Sabha. Tharoor, meanwhile, was seen smiling in the background as the BJP MP made the statement.

Shashi Tharoor was part of the all-party delegation that delivered official briefings on Operation Sindoor representing India’s position abroad as part of a government-backed effort to build national consensus on counterterrorism.