Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday sought to clarify his remarks suggesting that Rahul Gandhi's ‘Chhatron ki goonj’ programme had not resonated as strongly among Gen Z as the Cockroach Janata Party's protest, accusing sections of the media of portraying his comments as an attack on his own party and its leadership. Tharoor insisted that the central point of his remarks was that established political parties must open their doors to young people and create pathways that allow the next generation to play a meaningful role in shaping politics. “It takes a particular combination of incompetence and malice for some media to interpret my conversation with Rishabh Shah at @iimunofficial as an attack on my own party or its leadership,” Tharoor said in a post on X.
He also shared the full video of his conversation at the India's International Movement to Unite Nations (IIMUN) event in Mumbai on August 7. “Here is the entire video, uncut and unexpurgated, in full, of the conversation. Watch it and judge for yourself, as clearly none of the journalists distorting it have done,” he said.
Remarks on Rahul Gandhi event spark row
The controversy followed Tharoor's remarks at the event on Friday, where he said opposition parties needed to examine whether they had provided a route into mainstream politics for young people such as those who participated in the recent protest at Jantar Mantar. Tharoor said Rahul Gandhi's ‘Chhatron ki goonj’ programme had raised issues similar to those highlighted by the Cockroach Janata Party.
Asked whether Gandhi's programme had failed to resonate as strongly as the Jantar Mantar agitation, Tharoor replied, “Correct. And that's why we need to ask ourselves what we failed to do.” “Did we fail to listen? Did we fail to tap into the old cliche of having our finger on the pulse of the people? Was our finger missing from the pulse of Gen Z? That's something we really need to interrogate,” he said.
‘Young people must not remain spectators’
Tharoor's office also shared a portion of his remarks, arguing that the broader context made his position clear. “Context is often more instructive than commentary. Beyond the noise lies Dr Shashi Tharoor's point: India's young people must not remain spectators to politics. Parties must open their doors, create pathways to leadership and give the next generation the power to shape our politics,” his office said. The Thiruvananthapuram MP argued that opposition parties needed to examine why young protesters did not necessarily see established political organisations as avenues through which they could pursue change.
Questions barriers within established parties
Tharoor pointed to hierarchies, entrenched establishments, dynastic considerations and political networks as possible barriers preventing young people from gaining meaningful roles in established parties. “How do young people get into established parties where there are hierarchies, entrenched establishments, dynastic considerations, and political networks?” he asked. He also questioned whether newcomers were being offered genuine opportunities or were merely expected to work behind established politicians.
“How does a new young person come in and if they come in what do they get to do — stand behind the established leaders to make up the numbers in mass rallies, to do foot soldier work? Can they actually be the people who make the difference?” Tharoor said.
Warns parties could become irrelevant
Tharoor warned that established political parties could eventually lose relevance if they failed to understand emerging political aspirations among younger Indians. “I think we really, as the American expression goes, need to wake up and smell the coffee. Let not our repertoire be that we will bypass and be irrelevant because we failed to listen,” he said. He stressed that political parties needed to hear voices they had so far failed to engage with and provide younger people opportunities to participate in leadership and decision-making rather than merely treating them as supporters at rallies.