Watch: Shashi Tharoor To NDTV On Greatest Strength, Weakness Of PM Modi

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor today praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's oratory skill as "impressive" but one that's also a weakness due to a "disconnect between the oratory and implementation."

Mr Tharoor's comments on PM Modi came while he was discussing the Congress President election, what he would do if elected, and the challenges ahead, which brought PM Modi into the discussion since the BJP is the Congress's biggest rival.

"I think his (PM Modi's) oratory is absolutely compelling and impressive. He is probably the finest speaker in Hindi that our country has seen, even though one would argue that [Atal Bihari] Vajpayee had that reputation, one could say Mr Modi is more effective. He is more theatrical and more effective," Mr Tharoor, who filed his papers today for the Congress President election, told NDTV.

PM Modi's weakness, according to Tharoor, is the "disconnection" between what he tells people and their implementation.

"You make fine speeches in which you diagnose problems and you even seem to suggest solutions. But then on the ground you have a disaster. Demonetisation is a great example of that," Mr Tharoor said.

Mr Tharoor faces party colleague Mallikarjun Kharge in the Congress's internal election, a contest the Kerala MP said will be a "friendly" one and not "a battle between rivals".

The new Congress President will find a long to-do list of difficult tasks, starting from the Gujarat assembly election this year-end to the national election in 2024. The new party chief also needs to defend the Congress from newer challengers such as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, or AAP, in the national level.