‘What are you referring to?’: Shashi Tharoor responds after CJP’s Saurav Das’s PM Modi post

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was drawn into a social media exchange after Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) co-convener Saurav Das referenced an unidentified “banger” comment while sharing a video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi offering prayers at a Delhi temple.

Das shared a video of PM Modi’s visit to the Sri Vinayaka Mandir in Delhi on X on Wednesday.

Modi visited the temple as he marked 25 years since he first took charge as the head of a government. During the visit, he offered prayers and performed rituals, including offering water to a Shivling.

Reacting to the visuals, Das said they reminded him of a “banger” comment by Tharoor.

Tagging the Congress MP, Das wrote: “Dr. Tharoor, would it be an unconscionable imposition upon your eloquence to solicit a reprise of that ineffably felicitous observation, sir?”

The post appeared to refer to Tharoor’s reputation for using elaborate English vocabulary.

Tharoor asks Das to clarify

Tharoor responded to Das but said he did not know what the reference was about.

“It wouldn’t, if I had the slightest idea what you are referring to! Do enlighten me,” Tharoor wrote.

Das did not clarify in the post which earlier comment he was referring to.

What comment was Das referring to?

Users on X and the platform’s AI chatbot Grok speculated that Das could have been referring to Tharoor’s controversial 2018 “scorpion sitting on a Shivling” remark.

However, Das did not identify that comment in his post, and Tharoor’s response indicated that he did not understand the reference.

Therefore, the specific comment Das had in mind remains unclear.

PM Modi marks 25 years in public life

The exchange came on a day when Modi marked 25 years since he first became the head of a government.

Modi took oath as Gujarat chief minister on October 7, 2001. Speaking in Delhi, he described the period since then as 25 years of continuous public service.

He thanked people across the country, the BJP, NDA allies and political colleagues for their support.

Modi said the milestone was not an occasion for personal glorification but an opportunity to express gratitude. He also reflected on the role of supporters and critics in shaping his political journey.

“Seva hi dharm hai” was among the themes of his address as he spoke about the next phase of his political career and India’s goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047.

The exchange between Das and Tharoor centres on a reference whose intended meaning was not made explicit. While social media users linked Das’s post to Tharoor’s 2018 Shivling-related remark, neither Das’s post nor Tharoor’s response confirms that interpretation.

The episode also reflects how older political remarks can resurface on social media when current political events involve similar imagery or themes. In this case, the speculation followed Modi’s temple visit, but the original post did not specify the remark being referenced.

The confirmed part of the exchange is that Das referred to an earlier “banger” comment and asked Tharoor to repeat it, while Tharoor replied that he did not know what Das meant and asked him to explain.