BJP leader Baijayant Jay Panda has set political circles abuzz with a cryptic tweet amid ongoing speculation about Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s possible switch to the BJP.

Sharing a picture with Tharoor on ‘X’, Panda wrote, “My friend & fellow traveler called me mischievous for saying that we seem to be finally travelling in the same direction.”

Advertisement

Dismissing any political significance to his former Congress colleague’s post, Tharoor clarified, “Fellow traveller only to Bhubaneswar! I am addressing the Kalinga LitFest tomorrow morning. And coming right back!!”

Although the Congress leader has clarified, the tweet has added fuel to the rumours that have been making the rounds for some time that he may quit the Grand Old Party and join the BJP.

The rumours first gained traction last month when Tharoor, while speaking on a Malayalam-language podcast Varthamanam, declared that he has other options if the Congress party doesn’t need his services.

Shashi Tharoor, who was part of the G-23—a group of 23 Congress leaders who wrote a letter asking for stronger leadership and who unsuccessfully contested for the party president’s post against Mallikarjun Kharge—also praised the startup policy of the Left government in Kerala during the same podcast.

He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with US President Donald Trump, further embarrassing the Congress party.

More recently, he praised PM Modi’s stance on the Ukraine-Russia conflict, further leaving his own party red-faced.

“PM Modi has taken a consistent position that the solution to this conflict has to come through diplomacy. In fact, you may remember his statement in Samarkand in front of President Putin, where he said this is not an era of war and that solutions have to be found peacefully. We do seem to be at the beginning of a peace process of some sort,” Tharoor told a news agency on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi earlier this week.

However, the Congress leader has dismissed the rumours of joining the BJP. During the same podcast where he praised the Left government and Modi’s meeting with Trump, Tharoor had clarified that he has always identified himself as a Congressman and never held discussions about joining the BJP.