NEW DELHI: Facing flak from Kerala Congress over his statement praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said he has been a "strong critic" of the BJP-led government and urged his partymen to "respect his approach even if they don't agree with it"."I've been a strong critic of the Modi government and I hope a constructive one. My staunch defence of inclusive values and constitutional principles has won me 3 elections. I urge my fellow Congressmen to respect my approach even when they don't agree with it," he tweeted.Tharoor courted controversy after he said that Modi should be "praised whenever he says or does the right thing". He made the statement as he endorsed the remarks of senior partymen Jairam Ramesh and Abhishek Manu Singhvi who had said that "demonising" the Prime Minister is "wrong"."As you know, I have argued for six years now that @narendramodi should be praised whenever he says or does the right thing, which would add credibility to our criticisms whenever he errs. I welcome others in Oppn coming around to a view for which I was excoriated at the time!" Tharoor had tweeted on Sunday.Upset with his statement, Kerala Congress chief Mullappally Ramachandran said the party unit will seek an explanation from Tharoor following which the future course of action will be decided.Ramachandran said several party leaders and workers have approached the leadership with complaints against Tharoor's "Modi praise."The state congress chief also said he was unaware of the circumstances in which the pro-Modi remarks had been made by Tharoor and the MP should explain what prompted him to change his earlier stand against the prime minister.Ramachandran said he was trying to contact Tharoor, who is now abroad, and would convey the party leaders' and cadres' displeasure to him.The KPCC would submit a report on the matter to AICC, which will take a final call, he said.Besides Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, three MPs-- K Muraleedharan, Benny Behannan and T N Pratapan, have also hit out at Tharoor for his remark.According to Muraleedharan those who want to praise Modi should join the BJP bandwagon, while Behannan said glorifying the Prime Minister was not the job of Congressmen."The Congress leadership should find out what is going on in the minds of those Congress leaders who become uncomfortable when Modi is criticised," Behannan said on Tuesday at Kochi.Pratapan shot off a letter to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi stating his "disappointment" over some congress leaders statements praising the Prime Minister.He also said "praising such fascist leaders would affect the Congress party's fight against fascism."Ramesh Chennithala also had earlier said the "wrongdoings" of the Modi government cannot be "ignored.Tharoor and his colleague Abhishek Singhvi had last week supported party leader Jairam Ramesh who has said not recognising Modi's work and "demonising" him all the time was not going to help.Tharoor had on Sunday defended the remarks made by him, Singhvi and Jairam Ramesh."What Jairam Ramesh and Singhvi have said is not wrong. If Modi has done something good, we should acknowledge it. Otherwise we will lose credibility among the people.If there is need, we should severely criticise him," he had told a Malayalam TV channel.Former union minister Jairam Ramesh had recently said Modi's model was not a "complete negative story" and not recognising his work and demonising him all the time is not going to help."It is time we recognise Modi's work and what he did between 2014 and 2019 due to which he was voted back to power by over "30 per cent of the electorate," he had said on Wednesday.