THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress senior leader Shashi Tharoor chose the day of the crucial Nilambur by-election to publicly express his dissatisfaction with the party’s state leadership.
“You all know that I have some differences of opinion with the current Congress leadership in the state. However, these are issues to be discussed within the party forum,” he told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday after returning from an all-party delegation to the United States.
The Congress Working Committee member dismissed speculation about switching allegiance to the BJP, stating firmly that he is not going anywhere.
Expressing his resentment at not being invited to campaign for the Nilambur bypoll, Tharoor said, “I only attend programmes for which I am invited. I am a polite person.” It was TNIE that first reported that Tharoor had not been invited by the state leadership to campaign in Nilambur.
Tharoor explained that he was on an international tour delegated by the Union government. “However, I did not receive any missed call or invitation to come for campaigning, not even after I returned to the country. Consequently, I continued with my existing schedule. I went abroad, then to New Delhi, and finally arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday night,” he said.
He added that it is common practice for the party to contact him to check his availability for election campaigns. “For example, during the Wayanad polls, we planned my schedule only after an invitation was extended. The party’s local leadership usually decides where I should speak or campaign alongside the candidate,” he said.
Tharoor acknowledged the sincere efforts of Congress workers and leaders in Nilambur. “Congress has a strong candidate. Although I was not present for the campaigning, I would like to see Congress win,” he stated.
In what could be read as a message to both the party high command and the Narendra Modi government, Tharoor made it clear that he would accept another opportunity similar to the one he was delegated following Operation Sindoor.
Dismissing further questions about switching to the BJP, he said: “I am a member of the Congress party. I have been working in the Thiruvananthapuram parliamentary constituency and have been elected four times by the people. If I undertake a task, I will discharge it with integrity. The Union government delegated a task to me, which I executed with utmost sincerity and integrity.”
Tharoor also criticised Congress national leaders who had raised objections to his statements on India’s retaliation against Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism, saying he has no time to waste on such unnecessary controversies.
On Thursday evening, a list of Congress star campaigners for the Nilambur by-election was released, with Tharoor’s name appearing eighth. The list submitted to the Election Commission also includes leaders such as K C Venugopal, Priyanka Gandhi, Deepa Dasmunshi, Sunny Joseph, V D Satheesan, Ramesh Chennithala, and K Sudhakaran.
However, sources close to Tharoor told TNIE that neither the MP nor his office was aware of the list. Usually, before finalising campaign dates, the leadership contacts the leaders concerned to confirm their availability. “That didn’t happen this time,” the sources said.
It is alleged that the Congress did not release the star campaigners’ list publicly but revealed it to the media only after the controversy erupted.
While the party leadership did not officially respond to Tharoor’s remarks, senior leader Rajmohan Unnithan strongly criticised him: “Nobody needs to be invited for election campaigning. It is not someone’s wedding where a leader has to wait for an invitation,” said Unnithan.