Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has come out in support of Jairam Ramesh

Highlights Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said "demonising PM Modi is wrong"

Abhishek Singhvi, Shashi Tharoor agree acts should be judged "issue-wise"

Praising PM for right things makes criticism credible too: Shashi Tharoor

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor came out in support of party colleague Jairam Ramesh on Friday, saying "demonising" Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "wrong" and the PM should be praised for doing the right things. This comes after Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi also supported Mr Ramesh.

Mr Tharoor said praising the Prime Minister for doing the right things would lend credibility to the opposition's criticism of him.

"Always said demonising Modi wrong. No only is he PM of nation, a one way opposition actually helps him. Acts are always good, bad & indifferent - they must be judged issue wise and nt person wise. Certainly, Ujjawala scheme is only one amongst other good deeds (sic)," Mr Singhvi had tweeted.

Shashi Tharoor also joined him. "As you know, I have argued for six years now that Narendra Modi 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 opposition coming around to a view for which I was excoriated at the time," Mr Tharoor said.

Asked at the Congress briefing about the party leaders' comments that PM Modi should be praised for doing the right things, party spokesperson Manish Tewari skirted the question, saying it should be asked to these leaders.

"As the comments made by various people, whom you have referred to, are concerned, they are in the best position to clarify or amplify or retract or subtract their remarks," Mr Tewari said.

"As far as the Congress party is concerned, we believe that there is a serious economic crisis in the country. The crisis is impacting the employment situation and we are extremely concerned and worried about it," Mr Tewari told reporters.

News agency PTI had reported that at a book launch on Wednesday, former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh had said PM Modi's governance model was "not a complete negative story" and added that not recognising his work and "demonising" him all the time was not going to help.

"Also, if you are going to demonise him all the time, you are not going to be able to confront him," warned the former Union Minister. He clarified that he was not asking anyone to applaud the Prime Minister but only wanted the political class to "recognise the traits he has brought to governance".

"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," Mr Ramesh had said.