NEW DELHI: The Congress central leadership on Friday asked party leaders in Kerala to close ranks and fight the upcoming Assembly elections in a united manner at a key strategy meeting for the state polls, which saw senior leader Shashi Tharoor skipping it, as he is believed to be upset over Rahul Gandhi not acknowledging his presence at a recent event in Kochi.
The meeting, chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, was attended by Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, and state leaders Sunny Joseph, VD Satheesan, and Ramesh Chennithala, among others. Sources said the Kerala leadership was asked to begin deliberations on candidate selection amid indications that most sitting MLAs are likely to be renominated. The state unit is expected to hold discussions on candidate selection and alliance strategy by the end of the month, a party leader said. Rahul Gandhi, the sources added, was keen on bringing the Kerala Congress (M) back into the Congress-led fold.
While the leadership maintained that Tharoor had informed them in advance about his inability to attend the meeting due to prior commitments, sources close to the Thiruvananthapuram MP said that he has chosen to stay away from the meeting as a mark of protest against both the state and central leadership of the party.
Sources said the immediate trigger for the fallout is an incident at the Kochi event. AICC asked Tharoor and other leaders to speak after Rahul Gandhi’s address, a leader said. When Gandhi arrived on the stage, Tharoor stopped his speech and greeted him. However, contrary to the initial instruction, at least six leaders went on to speak after Gandhi’s arrival.
Tharoor was particularly upset that Rahul Gandhi did not acknowledge him by name in his speech, despite mentioning several other leaders present on the dais. “Given his seniority and his position as a Congress Working Committee member, Tharoor felt that Rahul Gandhi should have mentioned his name. The party cannot afford to ignore his popularity during the assembly election campaign,” said a senior party leader.
Before leaving the venue, Tharoor reportedly conveyed his displeasure to some leaders present at the event. According to sources close to him, he is deeply upset at the treatment meted out to him by the party, especially after differences had been ironed out at the Wayanad meetings on the sidelines of the Lakshya 2026 leadership camp organised by the KPCC to chalk out strategies for the assembly elections.
Sources added that Tharoor felt there had been a temporary improvement in his ties with the party following his interventions in Parliament during the winter session and his participation in the Wayanad leadership camp. However, the latest episode has reinforced his belief that the leadership is once again distancing itself from him.
Tharoor’s uneasy equation with the party’s official line has been evident for some time. His recent public comments praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his remarks critical of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty had earlier caused embarrassment to the Congress.
After the meeting, Kharge wrote on X, “ 3.6 crore people of Kerala are yearning for change. The Congress party along with our partners in the UDF are determined to ensure progressive, development-oriented, welfare based governance in the state.
An important preparatory meeting with Kerala leaders was held for the forthcoming Assembly elections”.