THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was a ‘fixed’ match and that Shashi Tharoor would lose was a foregone conclusion, given the official backing for Mallikarjun Kharge. Still, Tharoor has emerged as a winner despite losing it.
The fact that he managed to poll 1,072 votes is no small thing. It is for the first time in the history of Congress politics that a “dissident” candidate has garnered this high number of votes. The highest votes a rebel candidate has got so far was when Sharad Pawar got 888 votes against Sitaram Kesari, Gandhi family’s official candidate in 1997.
Speculations were rife about Tharoor’s political future as Tharoor was celebrating his “defeat” with several lakhs of people from across the country congratulating him on his social media accounts. While some predicted that the Gandhi family will not pardon Tharoor for contesting against their choice, there were some some who predicted that Tharoor will be chosen to the CWC or else as one of the working presidents in charge of one among the four regions when the next plenary session of the Congress will be held during February 2023.
There is also speculation that he would be Congress’ CM candidate in 2024. “Congress leadership is not foolish to hand over Tharoor to opponents,’’ said a party leader. Tharoor, however, told this newspaper that he is in “no hurry”. “My intention was to revive the party and I have succeeded in that. I have not sought any party positions before the AICC leadership,’’ he said.
Tharoor also said that he was particularly happy about the response he got from his home state, Kerala. “I’m happy with the poll turnout in favour of me from my home State. As per my friends estimate, I have got more than 140 votes from Kerala,” Tharoor told this newspaper.
According to sources, the quantum of votes that Tharoor has got was beyond the expectations of the party high command. “He would not get more than 500 votes,’’ a CWC member had told this paper in the morning. But the high command has already asked insiders to find out how and where they have gone wrong about the support Tharoor has received.
That Tharoor alleged of rigging in the presidential poll in Uttar Pradesh also has not gone down well with the Congress High Command. “It has put Priyanka Gandhi, AICC general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, in a bad light,’’ said a Congress leader.
New role in party
While some predicted that the Gandhi family will not pardon Tharoor for contesting against their choice, there were some some who predicted that Tharoor will be chosen to the CWC or else as one of the working presidents in charge of one among the four regions when the next plenary session of the Congress will be held during February 2023