Cong Leader Shashi Tharoor Hits Back at Piyush Goyal For ‘Foreign Accent’ Remark, Says This Explains Why BJP Keeps Misinterpreting my Words

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal had said he did not understand the Congress leader's "foreign accent''.

New Delhi, Jul 19: Hours after Finance Minister Piyush Goyal commented that he did not understand the Shashi Tharoor’s “foreign accent“, Congress leader hit back at him, saying, “Interesting to see that @PiyushGoyal says he can’t understand my words.” Replying on the micro-blogging site Twitter, he also took a jibe at BJP and said, “That explains why his Party keeps misinterpreting and distorting them!”

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal had said he did not understand the Congress leader’s “foreign accent”.  While participating in the debate in the Lok Sabha on the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, Tharoor had attacked the government saying there was a “significant gap” between the government’s rhetoric and action. He had launched a scathing attack on the Modi government saying Nirav Modi, who had fled the country after allegedly duping state-run banks of crores of rupees, was photographed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Davos.

While replying to the debate on the bill, Goyal said he did not understand the “foreign English accent” of Tharoor. This was objected to by RSP member N.K. Premachandran, who is also Tharoor’s fellow MP from Kerala. He came to the Congress MP’s defence, saying “It is not fair on the part of the minister” to make such a comment.

When Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar intervened in the matter, Premachandran retorted that he had every right to do so, since the minister had made an observation about a member of the opposition.

Known for his chaste English and a good vocabulary, Tharoor is a two-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. Prior to his entry in politics, Tharoor served extensively at the United Nations, where he had unsuccessfully contested for the UN Secretary General’s post.

Recently, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor courted controversy with his remark that a Hindu Pakistan would be created if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to power in 2019.

(With PTI inputs)