Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) in Kerala on Tuesday decided to seek an explanation from Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor for his remarks on praising Modi. Tharoor said, "As you know, I have argued for six years now that Narendra Modi should be praised whenever he says or does the right thing, which would add credibility to our criticisms whenever he errs. I welcome others in opposition coming around to a view for which I was excoriated at the time."

Meanwhile, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief Mullappally Ramachandran said Congress workers across the country have expressed extreme displeasure over the statement made by Tharoor. Party leaders have also approached me with written complaints, said the KPCC chief.

Also read: Kerala Congress leaders slam Shashi Tharoor for praising PM Modi

Tharoor in a tweet on Sunday said, "I've been a strong critic of the Modi government, & I hope a constructive one. My staunch defence of inclusive values & constitutional principles has won me 3 elections. I urge my fellow Congressmen to respect my approach even when they don't agree with it," the Thiruvananthapuram MP tweeted.

“KPCC has decided to seek explanation from Tharoor for his comments," Mullappally told reporters at Kannur as he waited to receive Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who is on a four-day visit to his Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency.

The state Congress chief also said he was unaware of the circumstances in which the pro-Modi remarks had been made and that Tharoor explain what prompted him to change his earlier stance.

Ramachandran said he was trying to contact Tharoor, who is now abroad, and would convey the party leaders' and cadres' displeasure to him. The KPCC would submit a report on the matter to AICC, which will take a final call, he said.

Besides opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, three MPs- K Muraleedharan, Benny Behannan and TN Pratapan, have also hit out at Tharoor for his remark. Ramesh Chennithala had earlier said the "wrongdoings" of the Modi government cannot be "ignored."

Tharoor and his colleague Abhishek Singhvi had last week supported party leader Jairam Ramesh. Former union minister Jairam Ramesh had recently said Modi's model was not a "complete negative story" and not recognising his work and demonising him all the time is not going to help. "It is time we recognise Modi's work and what he did between 2014 and 2019 due to which he was voted back to power by over "30% of the electorate," he had said on Wednesday.

Earlier, AP Abdullakutty was dismissed from the Congress in Kerala for praising Narendra Modi. On June 3, he officially joined the BJP. 

With PTI inputs