THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day on which Congress leader Shashi Tharoor hogged the limelight at the programme held at NSS headquarters, Youth Congress state general secretary Binu Chulliyil, a close confidant of senior Congress leader K C Venugopal, took a dig at the former’s speech at Changanassery terming it pettiness.
“It’s quite natural that there will be competition between people in any sectors including politics. But to term it as a caste jealousy by somebody of the stature of Tharoor who’s a self-proclaimed Nehruvian socialist, is simply pettiness,” said Binu in his Facebook post.
Congress leaders cutting across groups have expressed their bitterness towards Tharoor’s statement at Changanassery.
They allege that Tharoor who had competed for the post of Congress president, chose to speak about caste pride. It is inappropriate. The state leaders who see a challenger in Tharoor may use this as a weapon against him.
“Tharoor has in fact insulted the great renaissance leader Mannath Padmanabhan by speaking about the caste jealousy among Nair leaders in politics,” a state Congress committee member told TNIE on condition of anonymity.
“Mannam was a social reformer. And worked all his life for the emancipation of socially outcast people,” he said. It is learnt that the groups who are against Tharoor may take up the issue in the coming days.