THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Senior Congress leader and local MP Shashi Tharoor asserted that no central forces should be deployed at Vizhinjam.
Tharoor has been facing the ire of the Thiruvananthapuram Latin Catholic Archdiocese and the fishermen's community for extending support to the Vizhinjam port.
"The ongoing controversy and related developments in Vizhinjam are not a smooth affair. FIRs should not have been registered against the Bishops. The fisherfolks are not against any development. They are not anti-nationals either," said Tharoor.
Earlier, the state government had informed the High Court that it had no objection to deploying central forces at the site of the Vizhinjam port, where construction has been suspended for more than three months due to protests by fisherfolk.
Meanwhile, the ripples created by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who has been the centre of attention for quite some time due to his sudden interest in state politics, refused to die down.
Close on the heels of Kottayam District Congress Committee president Nattakam Suresh's allegation that the party was kept in the dark about Tharooor's Youth Congress programme at Erattupetta, Tharoor refuted the same. The Youth Congress programme is scheduled for Saturday at 7 pm.
Speaking to reporters at the Thiruvananthapuram airport en route to Kochi, Tharoor said his office had called up the DCC president and informed him about his itinerary. Tharoor recalled that it was the Youth Congress Kottayam district committee which invited him to the programme.
Responding to senior Congress leader and party disciplinary committee chairman Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan's remark that he will not be attending the Erattupetta programme, Tharoor quipped, "Those leaders who are not interested in attending the programme need not come. They can always watch the programme live on YouTube".
The three-time Congress MP recalled that he has been giving talks and attending seminars over the last 13 years. He didn't hide his disappointment when he said that the last two months have been tumultuous.