After a recent petition on Change.org seeking that the Congress party name Shashi Tharoor as Prime Minister candidate for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections went viral, the Thiruvananthapuram MP has finally taken the time to respond to it with a Facebook post. Expectedly, he has said that though he is touched, he would never endorse such a campaign, and asked the creator of the petition to withdraw it.
Shashi Tharoor's Facebook post reads, "I was both surprised and touched by the Change.org petition that has been circulating over the past few days suggesting a greater role for me in the Congress Party and in national politics in the 2019 elections, and by the response this has received. I do, however, feel it is time to make it clear that I neither support nor endorse such a campaign."
He said that although he was touched by the gesture he requested the creator of the petition to withdraw it.
The MP then went on to say what any representative of a constituency would, that he would work for its betterment. "I will continue, to the best of my abilities, with my work in Parliament, in Thiruvananthapuram, and in articulating my hopes for India and the ideas that make India -- on those party platforms that are available to me, as well as on the national and international stage and through my writings."
The petitioner, Paul Trivandrum, as his name indicates, seems to be a resident of Tharoor's Thiruvananthapuram constituency. It is not immediately clear if he is connected to the MP in any way. Paul Trivandrum had named various attributes and accomplishments of Shashi Tharoor that he argued made him the best PM candidate for the UPA to take on the Narendra Modi-led NDA government in the 2019 elections.
The petition mentioned Tharoor's 30 years of experience in the UN and his abilities as a diplomat and orator, who has authored several books which reflect his understanding of the pluralistic society of India, among other things.
Read Shashi Tharoor's complete Facebook post below:
BJP tasted massive success in the recently concluded Assembly elections as they dethroned Akhilesh Yadav's government in Uttar Pradesh claiming an astounding victory by winning 312 of the 403 seats. They also replicated similar success in Uttarakhand where they won 57 of the 70 seats. Despite claiming lesser seats than Congress in Goa and Manipur, BJP has formed the government with the support of regional parties and independent MLA's. But in Punjab the saffron party managed to win only three of the 117 seats.