'Apologise unconditionally': Shashi Tharoor on blunder in manifesto for Congress chief elections

Facing backlash over a "distorted map of India" in his manifesto, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor issued an unconditional apology on Friday. Tharoor landed in a controversy as the manifesto shared by him for the election shows a "distorted map of India" in which he has omitted parts of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

He shared the distorted map of India, where he talked about 'decentralization of the organization'.

Issuing an apology, Tharoor in a tweet wrote, "Re the troll storm on a manifesto map: No one does such things on purpose. A small team of volunteers made a mistake. We rectified it immediately &I apologise unconditionally for the error."

Later Tharoor rectified the blunder by replacing it with the correct map of India in his election manifesto.

Not the first time Tharoor did this blunder:

This is not the first time the Lok Sabha MP has shared a distorted map of India. Earlier in 2019, Tharoor shared a 'distorted' map of India on Twitter. The northernmost territory of the country was missing from the map shared by the Congress leader.

In December 2019, he shared the cover of a booklet about the Kerala Congress's protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). He later deleted the tweet and rectified his mistake.

Tharoor has issued a manifesto explaining how he intends to rejuvenate the party through decentralisation and internal reorganisation if he wins the election.

Tharoor's manifesto for Congress:

Tharoor issued a manifesto explaining how he intends to rejuvenate the party through decentralisation and internal reorganisation if he wins the election.

"Every party needs leadership, but at all levels and not just at the top. The Congress must empower the party in the states by giving real authority to the PCC Presidents, decentralize authority and truly empower the grassroots office-bearers of the party. We must provide a credible alternative to the BJP 's centralization of authority in its party affairs and in the affairs of governance. Re-imagining the organization, delegating powers to state, district and block leaders and empowering grassroots workers will not only free the new leader from the onerous burdens of over-administration, but help create the strong state leadership that in past eras strengthened the Congress' national appeal," the Congress leader's manifesto reads.

(with agency inputs)