The Congress MP further said the upcoming Lok Sabha elections are important and that it will deny the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a second term in power.

Tharoor's comment comes in the backdrop of plans to install a statue of Lord Ram on the banks of the Sarayu river in Ayodhya.

Public prosecutor Atul Srivastava, who represented the police, told the court that fresh copies will be given to Tharoor, after which the court fixed the mater for further hearing on December 1.

A criminal defamation complaint has been moved in Delhi's Patiala House Court against Congress's Shashi Tharoor over his remark 'Modi is like a scorpion on Shivling' made during an event in Bengaluru.

The notice says, "On October 28, 2018 at around 5.38 am you had posted a 2 minutes 16 seconds video clip of your press conference along with certain false untrue malicious and highly defamatory statements in Twitter."

In a prompt response, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came all guns blazing on Rahul Gandhi and demanded his apology for the Congress leader's controversial statement.

Speaking at the launch event of Shashi Tharoor's book 'The Paradoxical Prime Minister' in New Delhi, Manmohan Singh questioned PM Modi's silence over various issues.  

Tharoor observed that presently India was not on course to provide the opportunities of the current century --job market-driven education -- to its youngsters.

The Congress leader on Sunday had said that "no good Hindu" would want a Ram temple at the dispute site of the demolished Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

The anticipatory bail application of Tharoor was premature, said the petitioner.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said the Rafale issue is 20 times bigger than the Bofors issue but the media is "not giving any importance like before".

Lok Sabha elections 2019: The Congress MP from Thiruvanathapuram termed the 2019 polls as "a battle for India's democratic soul" and said his party would certainly bring the opposition parties on a single platform "though it is not simple and easy".  

Referring to the BJP's criticism of him for questioning Swaraj's UN speech, Tharoor said he felt a "bit rich" to be criticised by the ruling party.

"One can fully appreciate and welcome some of the things that Sushma ji said, but some other things were actually disappointing," Tharoor said.

Reacting to the apex court ruling in favour of the LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, intersex and queer/questioning) community in India, Tharoor said he was very pleased with the historic judgement.

Tharoor is serving as Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009.

"I ask you why does our prime minister wear all sorts of outlandish headgear wherever he goes around the country or around the world? Why does he always refuse to wear a Muslim skull cap?" asked Tharoor.

Tharoor was speaking during a seminar titled 'Standing up to hatred: Intolerance and violence in contemporary India'.

PM Modi’s personal energy is commendable and I laud the way he spreads the power of India across the world, Tharoor said.

Talking to India TV's Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma in his show Aap ki Adalat, Tharoor said that in past four years the difference between the ruling and the opposition parties has widened as the government has failed to reach out to rivals.