PM Modi 'kind enough' to praise me from heart for Oxford University speech, says Shashi Tharoor

New Delhi: In a rare instance of bonhomie between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for praising him.

Tharoor said, "I am happy that the Prime Minister thanked me. He is kind enough to say that. He said it from his heart. I had to do a lot of research for the debate that I was invited for. I had to go through a lot of facts"

While addressing Parliamentarians at the Lok Sabha, Modi praised Tharoor for his speech at the Oxford University. "Whatever Shashi Tharoor said in the Oxford debate went viral on YouTube," said Modi.

Lok Sabha MP Tharoor made a passionate argument demanding reparation payments from the UK to India for 200 years of its colonial rule, prompting a vigorous debate online with his speech becoming a hit on social media like Facebook and YouTube.

"India's share of the world economy when Britain arrived on its shores was 23 per cent," Tharoor said at a debate at the University of Oxford recently.

"By the time the British left it was down to below 4 per cent. Why? Simply because India had been governed for the benefit of Britain. Britain's rise for 200 years was financed by its depredations in India," he said, debating: 'This house believes Britain owes reparations to her former colonies'.

Modi's remarks came a day after Congress President Sonia Gandhi pulled up Tharoor for not following the party line and accused him of "always doing this."

Tharoor had reportedly said he was against disrupting Parliament and had suggested that Congress should allow Parliament to function and not force adjournments through disruptions.

Sonia's reprimand of Tharoor came amid a belligerent Congress leaving no stone unturned to corner the Narendra Modi government over the various scams involving top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders.

The Congress has been demanding the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the chief ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh over Lalit Modi row and Vyapam scam.

This is not for the first time the Thiruvananthapuram MP has been caught on the wrong foot by the party. Some of his views including what was seen as being appreciative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had caused a controversy.