New Delhi, September 22
After “tweeting” his way into a major controversy with his party over his “cattle class” and “holy cows” remarks, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is believed to have warned him that there should be no further controversial statements from him and advised him to “respect comman man’s sentiments”.

Later in the day, he also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who also reportedly asked the former UN diplomat to desist from controversial comments.

While it is not known what exactly transpired during these meetings as Tharoor himself chose to remain silent, sources say Sonia asked the former UN diplomat to refrain from speaking further on the Twitter issue.

Tharoor’s remarks on the social networking site created a major controversy within the party. The AICC reacted strongly and criticised the minister for using a term offensive to thousands of Indians who fly economy. Though Tharoor later clarified that he meant no offense, some of his party colleagues went to the extent of demanding his resignation.

Political observers say his meetings today assumes importance as his continuation in the ministry depends on Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh and Tharoor was able to explain his side of the story to the party’s top leadership.