'Who are they, what is their party position': Tharoor hits back at K Muraleedharan

New Delhi | Days after Kerala Congress leader K Muraleedharan's scathing criticism of him, party MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday asked who are these people making such remarks and what party position they hold.

Muraleedharan on Sunday hit out at Tharoor again, saying that he will not be invited to any party programme in the state capital till he changes his stance on the national security issue.

Muraleedharan said Tharoor, also a Congress Working Committee (CWC) member, was no longer considered "one of us".

Asked about the remarks, Tharoor told reporters, "First of all, it seems to me that the people saying this also have to have a basis for saying this. Who are they? What is their party's position? I would like to know."

Speaking with reporters, Muraleedharan had said, "Till he (Tharoor) changes his stance, we will not invite him to any party programme held in Thiruvananthapuram. He is not with us, so there is no question of him boycotting an event." His response had come a day after Tharoor had said that the nation comes first and parties are the means of making the country better.

The Congress MP had also said that a lot of people have been very critical of him because of his stand supporting the armed forces and the central government in connection with what happened recently in the country and its borders.

"But I will stand my ground, because I believe this is the right thing for the country," Tharoor had said at an event in Kochi on Saturday.

Tharoor had also said that when people like him call for cooperating with other parties in the interests of national security, their own parties feel that it's disloyal to them, and that becomes a big problem.

Muraleedharan had earlier hit out at Tharoor over sharing of a survey suggesting he is UDF's most preferred choice for Chief Minister, saying "he should first decide which party he belongs to".