Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari and Amar Singh not in Congress speakers' list

Congress MPs Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari and Amar Singh - who were part of India's global outreach after Operation Sindoor, much to the discomfort of the party leadership - do not figure in the official list of party speakers for the Lok Sabha debate on Operation Sindoor-Pahalgam.

Some Congress leaders claimed Tharoor had "opted to speak" in an upcoming debate on a ports Bill when the party leadership tried to ascertain if he was inclined to speak on the Operation Sindoor-Pahalgam debate.

Congress insiders have since shifted focus to whether Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will prove to be the better speaker, as both siblings are part of the speaker line-up for Tuesday - barring any last-minute changes.


Apart from the two, the official Congress speakers include Gaurav Gogoi (who opened for the Opposition), Deepender Hooda, Saptagiri Ulaka, Praniti Shinde, and Brijendra Singh Ola.

While many in the party feel some names in the line-up lack the stature and articulation of Tharoor and Tewari to effectively counter ruling side heavyweights, the chosen MPs are seen as personal loyalists of the Rahul-Priyanka camp.

Congress insiders claimed Tharoor conveyed his lack of interest in participating in the Operation Sindoor debate when Gogoi, at the behest of Gandhi and K C Venugopal, reached out to him on Sunday night.

Tharoor's stand evoked two kinds of responses within Congress. While some felt he avoided airing views that diverged from the party's official line, others saw it as a message that he was unwilling to change his stand to fit the party's position in the House.

Tewari and Amar Singh were apparently open to participating in the debate, had the leadership allowed them.