Replying to Shashi Tharoor's 'Don't ask permission to fly' post, Congress leader Manickam Tagore said, "Birds don't need clearance to rise." "But today even a free bird must watch the skies- hawks, vultures, and eagles are always hunting," he stated. Notably, Tharoor made the remark after Mallikarjun Kharge said that "some say Modi first and nation second".