New Delhi, Sep 2 : Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday slammed Congress for hurling "abuses" at its Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor for standing up to the party.

He said that many leaders in the Congress have good ideas; however, they are "afraid" to speak in front of their high command.

Following 'Operation Sindoor', Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was selected to lead an Indian delegation for the outreach programme of the country. Since then, the Congress has repeatedly made statements against Tharoor.

Reacting to this, Union Minister Rijiju told IANS, "There are many good leaders in the Congress, like Shashi Tharoor and others, who think for the country. From my experience, there are many MPs in the Congress and other parties who have good ideas for the nation but are afraid to speak in front of their leaders. Shashi Tharoor speaks out sometimes, but then he faces abuse from within Congress, which is not right."

An all-party parliamentary delegation led by Shashi Tharoor visited the US, Panama, Guyana, Brazil and Colombia to project India's national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all forms and manifestations.

It also exposed the role of The Resistance Front (TRF) and Pakistan's continued support for terror infrastructure, and called on the countries to hold state sponsors of terrorism accountable.

Following this, the Congress criticised its leaders, including MP Manish Tewari and senior party leader Salman Khurshid, who were part of different delegations, for praising the Modi government abroad.

Additionally, in the 'Operation Sindoor' debate during the Monsoon Session of the Parliament, the Congress did not name Tharoor and Tewari in the list of speakers, further underlining the internal resistance towards them for praising the Centre.

Both leaders expressed that national interests were more important to them than loyalty to their political parties.

Ever since the Indian armed forces carried out 'Operation Sindoor' in retaliation for the dastardly April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed, the Opposition has been questioning the Modi government seeking details over the successful conduct of the military action.

Additionally, Union Minister Rijiju also recalled that during the discussion on 'Operation Mahadev', in which three terrorists who fired on the tourists in Pahalgam were eliminated, the Opposition raised questions on its timing.

"When there was a discussion about 'Operation Mahadev', the entire country was happy; however, the Congress leaders were silent. Our forces killed those terrorists, and the entire Parliament should have thanked the forces for it and motivated them further. Unfortunately, the Congress did not do so and remained silently seated," he said.

Accusing the Opposition of not siding with the country's interest, Rijiju claimed that a Congress leader also criticised Indian Air Force (IAF) Group Captain Shukla's successful space mission.

"When Group Captain Shukla returned, a Congress leader remarked that Shukla did nothing remarkable, as anyone could go to space by paying for it. This reflects the mentality of the Congress party," he added.

/IANS