Shashi Tharoor Declines Veer Savarkar Award, Says He Will Not Attend Ceremony

Thiruvananthapuram/New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday firmly rejected the Veer Savarkar International Impact Award 2025, stating that he would neither accept the honour nor attend the ceremony linked to it. His decision came amid internal party objections, with senior Congress colleagues insisting that no party member should accept an award named after V.D. Savarkar, whom the Congress has long accused of compromising with the British.

Tharoor said he would not accept any award named after Savarkar and added that he would not participate in the event unless he received complete information about the nature of the award and the organisation presenting it.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP also criticised the organisers for announcing his name without his consent, calling the move “irresponsible”.

Earlier in the day, Congress leader K. Muraleedharan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that no Congress member, including Tharoor, should accept an award named after Savarkar, alleging that Savarkar “bowed before the British”. He added that he did not believe Tharoor would accept the award, as it would “embarrass the Congress party”.

Speaking to journalists in Delhi later, Tharoor said he came to know about the award only on Tuesday and confirmed that he would not attend Wednesday’s ceremony. “I heard about it only yesterday. I am not going. I am not part of this,” he said.

In a post on the social media platform X, Tharoor clarified that without details about the award, the presenting organisation, or any relevant context, there was “no question” of him attending the event or accepting the honour. He added that he learned from media reports that he had been listed as an award recipient while he was in Kerala on Tuesday to cast his vote in the local body elections.

He said he had already made it clear at the time that he had no prior knowledge of such an award and had not accepted it.

“Despite this, some media houses in Delhi are still asking the same question today,” he noted, adding that he was issuing the statement to avoid any further confusion.

Following Tharoor’s remarks, Ajay Krishnan, secretary of HRDS India — the organisation presenting the award — told a TV channel that Tharoor had been informed earlier. He claimed that a representative of HRDS India and the award jury chairperson had met Tharoor at his home to invite him, and that Tharoor had asked for a list of other awardees. Krishnan said the list had been provided and suggested that political pressure may have prompted Tharoor to decline.

Kerala Law Minister P. Rajeev commented that the decision to accept or reject the award was entirely Tharoor’s choice.

Tharoor had been selected as one of the recipients of the Veer Savarkar International Impact Award 2025, which HRDS India was scheduled to present in New Delhi on Wednesday. On Tuesday, he had told reporters that he only knew about the award from the media and was unaware of who was giving it.