Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi with lawmaker Shashi Tharoor
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, snubbed by party president Sonia Gandhi last week, was seen today in animated conversation with Rahul Gandhi, who was leading the party's attack in Parliament against the government.
Mr Gandhi was seen discussing something with Mr Tharoor in the Lok Sabha while Congress members were protesting near the Speaker's chair against BJP leaders caught in the Lalit Modi and Vyapam controversies.
The conversation led many to believe that the Congress vice president was consulting Mr Tharoor, days after his mother Sonia Gandhi admonished him for his comments at an internal party meet going public. "You always do this," Mrs Gandhi was reported to have said, stunning everyone with her sharp tone during a meeting of party lawmakers.
Mr Tharoor had voiced his disapproval of the party's strategy to disrupt Parliament over its demand for the removal of top BJP leaders caught in controversies, including Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj. His note of dissent was widely reported in the media, which triggered the reprimand from Sonia Gandhi.
A day after the rebuke, Mr Tharoor was complimented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a speech at Oxford that has gone viral. The Congress MP then told NDTV: "Don't read too much into the PM's praise. I am not joining the BJP."
Today, Rahul Gandhi was standing with Mr Tharoor in the Lok Sabha while giving directions to protesting party lawmakers.
Reports suggested Mr Tharoor added something to a note that his colleague Jyotiraditya Scindia wrote after the Leader of the Congress in the house, Mallikarjun Kharge, could not get a chance to speak on the terror attack in Punjab's Gurdaspur.
When Mr Kharge wanted to speak on the Gurdaspur attack, in which six people were killed, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said he should first ensure that Congress MPs stopped holding placards and shouting slogans. "Both cannot go together," the Speaker said.