New Delhi: Congress has taken a dim view of Union Minister Shashi Tharoor's praise of Narendra Modi and his accepting the Prime Minister's invite to him to participate in "Swachh Bharat" campaign but the party is unlikely to rush to taking drastic action against the party MP.

A senior party functionary, speaking on condition of anonmity, said Tharoor should have kept in mind that he belongs to a party and his party position comes first before his independent intellectual outlook and should have declined the invite.

"While I do not suspect his loyalty, this is also true that had I been in his place, I would have declined the invite by Modi to participate in "Swachh Bharat" campaign point blank. A Congressman does not need any invite from some other party leader to carry out a sanitation campaign," the party funtionary said.

The leader also suspected it could also be a "trap" by BJP to create suspicion around Tharoor and make his continuance in the party untenable like what had happened in the case of Haryana leader Chaudhary Birender Singh who had met BJP President Amit Shah and "then the photo of their meeting was leaked."

Chaudhary later joined BJP before Haryana assembly elections.

The leader said intellectuals and academics, who join Congress, must remember that it is the party which gave them positions and must not do anything which makes the partymen uncomfortable.

Asked about possibilities of disciplinary action against Tharoor, the leader merely said "even if no such thing is done, the very fact that Kerala unit of Congress is discussing it is in itself a sanction against him."

The leader pointed out that Kerala PCC is quite touchy about the party image and no leader can hope to get a ticket or rise in ranks from the state if the state unit is not with him.