THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Shashi Tharoor, diplomat-turnedpolitician and Thiruvananthapuram MP, still remains an ‘outsider’ within the Kerala unit of the Congress, if the indications coming out from the party on his prospects if he contests for the AICC president post are anything to go by. While most Congress leaders preferred to criticise Tharoor in secret, senior Congress MP K Muraleedharan, who has been accompanying Rahul Gandhi throughout the padayatra, told TNIE that the state leadership will endorse only the official candidate.
“Tharoor has neither sought the support of the state Congress leadership nor held any talks with the stakeholders here. This reveals the lack of support he has from the state unit,” said Muraleedharan. “We will support only those who accept the leadership of Nehru family,’’ he added. Padayatra state coordinator and senior MP Kodikunnil Suresh also snubbed Tharoor’s move.
A large section of state leaders is also peeved at Tharoor. They feel he is taking the sheen away from Rahul Gandhi’s padayatra. “When Tharoor is around, national media is keener on him than on Rahul. If he was a sincere Congressman, Tharoor should not have done this , ” said a KPCC functionary.
There are some leaders who secretly allege that if Congress does not give Tharoor party ticket for the fourth consecutive term in 2024, he may join other parties like AAP or even would be an independent candidate with Left support. “He joined Congress party in 2009 because the party was in power. If it was BJP which was in power in 2009, he would have joined BJP,’’ said a senior Congress leader.
Tharoor busy meeting leaders from other states for support
Some also allege that Tharoor has demanded for a berth in the highest body of the party, Congress Working Committee, in case he is not contesting. Tharoor, however, denied this. “I did not make any such demands,’’ he told TNIE. The 66-year old Tharoor, had always been an outsider in the party with a large section of the top leadership always trying to keep him away from all decision making processes. Tharoor has had to slog it out alone even during elections and his victories in the last three LS elections have been mostly out of his personal charisma and hard work.
Also, Tharoor’s line has always been different from that of the party’s views in the women entry issue in Sabarimala, privatization of the Thiruvananthapuram international airport and also in the ongoing protest against Vizhinjam International Transhipment Container Termina l by the f i she rme n community. Tharoor, despite not getting support from his colleagues in his home state, however, remains unfazed. He is camping in New Delhi right now and is busy meeting party leaders from other states. As Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra’s is entering Ernakulam on Wednesday, Tharoor is still hogging the limelight even in his absence.