Politics
BJP Seizes on Chidambaram-Tharoor Split Over BRICS Summit Value
A fresh disagreement within the Congress party over the value of India hosting the BRICS summit in New Delhi has given the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party an opening to criticize its rival. BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari took to X on Friday morning, writing that a "Congress MP exposes 'naraz fufa' of Congress opposing BRICS on instructions of Rahul Gandhi," framing the episode as "Congress exposes Congress."
The dispute began when former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram questioned the practical benefits of hosting the summit. Speaking to news agency ANI on Wednesday, Chidambaram said, "I don't care how many Presidents and how many Prime Ministers are coming. I don't think the last two or three BRICS summits have resulted in tangible benefits or results." He also noted India's membership in other groupings such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the G20, and the Quad, questioning what tangible outcomes any of these had delivered for India's economy or national security.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor pushed back against this view in comments to PTI. He argued that the presence of major world leaders at the summit—including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian—demonstrated India's diplomatic influence globally. Tharoor highlighted India's role in leading the Global South, a term referring to developing and lower-income nations with shared histories of colonization.
"Here we have 11 key players from the Global South who collectively represent much of the diversity of views, as well as the range of countries that we are essentially chairing on this particular occasion," Tharoor said, adding that the grouping represents a majority of the world's population and 41 percent of global GDP. He described the summit as "a matter of great prestige," showing India's "diplomatic convening power."
Tharoor did acknowledge challenges facing the bloc, including difficulty reaching consensus among members with sharply different views, particularly regarding the wars in Ukraine and Iran and their effects on the global economy. He referenced a May meeting of BRICS foreign ministers, where disagreement between Iran and the UAE over the Iran conflict prevented a joint declaration.
This latest friction adds to a strained relationship between Tharoor and the Congress party over the past year. Tensions reportedly began after the government included Tharoor in diplomatic delegations to partner nations following Operation Sindoor, India's military response to the April 2025 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Tharoor's acceptance of this role angered Congress leaders, who were critical of the Prime Minister's handling of the attack and viewed his participation as breaking from the party's position.
Subsequent disputes followed, including backlash after Tharoor praised the Prime Minister as a "prime asset for India" in a June 2025 newspaper article. Another controversy arose in August 2026 when Tharoor remarked that "established parties will cease to be relevant unless they can listen to new voices," made in response to a question about Congress's difficulty attracting younger voters compared to the Cockroach Janta Party.
Tharoor has consistently denied that his comments reflect dissatisfaction with Congress or an intention to join the BJP. During the Moscow leg of the Operation Sindoor delegation in June last year, he clarified that his praise for the Prime Minister was "a statement of national unity" and not a signal that he was "leaping to join his party." Despite these clarifications, tensions between Tharoor and his party have persisted, resurfacing whenever he offers views that diverge from the party's critical stance.