New Delhi [India], May 28 (ANI): In a clear sign that all is not well within the Congress party, Udit Raj on Wednesday criticised his party colleague and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor over his statement in Panama as part of the multi-party delegation and called him a 'spokesperson for the publicity stunts of the BJP'.

Reacting to the Thiruvananthapuram MP's remarks in Panama, Udit Raj said that Shashi Tharoor is the 'super spokesperson of the BJP and speaking in favour of PM Modi and his government.

Udit Raj further accused the Central government of taking credit for the actions of the Indian Armed Forces.

'Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is the super spokesperson of the BJP, and what the BJP leaders are not saying, speaking in favour of PM Modi and the government, Shashi Tharoor is doing... Does he (Shashi Tharoor) even know what the earlier governments used to do? ... They (the Central government) are taking credit for the Indian Armed Forces. Shashi Tharoor has become the spokesperson for the publicity stunts of the BJP,' Udit Raj told ANI.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is leading a multi-party delegation in a global outreach programme, recently said in Panama that India has changed its approach in recent years, and terrorists have also realised they will have to pay a price.

Referring to 2016's Surgical strike and 2019's Balakot airstrike in his address, the Congress MP said, 'What has changed in recent years is that the terrorists have also realised they will have a price to pay; on that, let there be no doubt. When, for the first time, India breached the Line of Control between India and Pakistan to conduct a surgical strike on a terror base, a launch pad - the Uri strike in September 2015. That was already something we had not done before. Even during the Kargil War, we had not crossed the Line of Control; in Uri, we did, and then came the attack in Pulwama in January 2019. This time, we crossed not only the Line of Control but also the international border, and we struck the terrorist headquarters in Balakot. This time, we have gone beyond both of those. We have not only gone beyond the Line of Control and the international border. We have struck at the Punjabi heartland of Pakistan by hitting terror bases, training centres, and terror headquarters in nine places,' Tharoor said.

Responding to this, Udit Raj in a post on X said, 'How could you denigrate the golden history of Congress by saying that before PM Modi, India never crossed LOC and the International border. In 1965 the Indian Army entered Pakistan at multiple points, which completely surprised the Pakistanis in the Lahore sector. In 1971, India tore Pakistan into two pieces and during the UPA government, several surgical strikes were unleashed, but drum beating was not done to encash it politically. How could you be so dishonest to the party which gave you so much?'

Tharoor, who is leading the all-party delegation to the United States, Guyana, Panama and other nations, was not among the official choices suggested by the Congress to the government for the outreach delegations. (ANI)