NEW DELHI: No surprise here: Prominent Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor was removed as party spokesperson on Monday. Tharoor’s “constant adulation’’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was too much for the Congress to digest and ignore. So a sack order.
The strong recommendation for ‘disciplinary action’ from the powerful Kerala unit of the party, in a way forced the Congress high command to take visible step against the “erring MP’’. A release from the party’s organisational general secretary Janardan Dwivedi, therefore, was expected.
The Congress sent a harsh notice that it would brook no deviation from the party line on PM Modi and his BJP, which swept to power in May after dislodging the UPA and is now believed to be sweeping the Maharashtra and Haryana polls.
Congress Kerala PCC chief V.M. Sudheeran had alleged that there were repeated instances of Tharoor being seen as appreciative Modi. "He has wounded the party spirit. We have to ensure that such remarks are not repeated," he remarked.