Dont discuss external affairs on tweets, BJP tells Tharoor

26 October,2009 07:21 AM IST |   |  Surender Sharma

Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor is one avid Twitter fan.


Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor is one avid Twitter fan.

And this time his tweet on declining honours by foreign governments in his capacity as the minister of government of India has ruffled some feathers in the opposition too.

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday said that Tharoor should use his topics carefully and keep serious issues away from being discussed on a social networking platform.

Shashi Tharoor file photo

"He should abstain himself tweeting about sensitive issues," BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told MiD DAY.


In his tweet on Sunday morning Tharoor had written, "At conf this morning will have 2 politely decline Medal awarded by Pres of Italy since India doesn't allow ministers to accept foreign awards," and minutes before this he wrote, "Had the same experience in Benin where President found it diff 2 undertsand why I was declining a national honour. I explained India's rules."u00a0

"On such matters the minister should take clearance from the Prime Minister's office and External Affairs ministry. He should not have gone public with this on twitter. It might hurt bilateral relations," Naqvi said.
"There are certain things which the minister or any responsible member of the government should keep to himself," he added.

Seeking to downplay the Tharoor's tweets, Congress spokespersons Manish Tiwari and Satyavart Chaturvedi refused comment.

Another senior party leader said, "We are not here to comment on every tweet Shashi Tharoor writes."

The cattle class remark, in an apparent reference to the austerity drive by the UPA government, has landed Tharoor in trouble once. Following this, he was also advised by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to be careful.u00a0

To read about Shashi Tharoor's tweets, go to https://twitter.com/ShashiTharoor
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Shashi Tharoor Twitter fan Minister of State for External Affairs BJP warning Delhi