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Updated: Aug 24, 2019 09:06 IST

Senior Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Shashi Tharoor have all said that “demonising” Prime Minister Narendra Modi could be counterproductive.

On Thursday evening, Ramesh, while speaking at a book launch in Delhi said that the governance of the Modi Cabinet was not a negative story in its entirety.

“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% of the electorate,” said Ramesh. He found support on stage from Delhi Congress leader Sharmistha Mukherjee.

A day later, on Friday morning, Singhvi tweeted his support. He said that always demonising Modi is wrong as he is the PM of the nation, and acts should be judged on the basis of issues not on the basis of the person. He said that the Centre’s Ujjwala scheme (subsidised gas connections for the poor) is a commendable one. He tweeted with the hashtag #Jairamramesh to voice his support.

He was joined by Tharoor who said that he has been espousing the idea that Modi should be praised whenever he says or does the right thing for six years now. This, he added, will add credibility to the Opposition’s criticisms whenever Modi errs. “I welcome others in Oppn coming around to a view for which i was excoriated at the time!,” he tweeted in reply to another tweet.

Given the seniority of the leaders putting forward this alternative view within the party, questions are being asked whether this signals a re-think within the Congress on how to tackle Modi. A party spokesperson dismissed this.

“Insofar as the comments made by various people are concerned, they are in the best position to clarify, amplify, retract or subtract their remarks. As far as the Congress Party is concerned, we believe that there is a serious economic crisis in the country. It is impacting the employment situation and we are extremely concerned and worried about it,” said Manish Tewari.