Ignored for Nilambur campaign, Shashi Tharoor's message to Congress: 'Strong bond with party workers, some differences with leadership'
NEW DELHI: Will the outcome of the Nilambur byelection decide the future of ties between Congress and its Kerala leader
Shashi Tharoor
- that have remained frosty since January when the Thiruvananthapuram MP surprised his party with out-of-turn praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his foreign policies?
Tharoor, who was kept away from party's campaign in Nilambur, on Thursday admitted to "differences with some in Congress leadership on some issues."
This even as Tharoor asserted that the Congress, its values, and its workers were very dear to him as he had worked closely with party workers for 16 years and regarded them as close friends and brothers and sisters.
Tharoor also reminded the party of the close relations he shares with party workers in Kerala that "saw him through in 4 elections in his own constituency of Thiruvananthapuram."
Interestingly, Tharoor's candid admission came on the day people of Nilambur were voting to select their new MLA.
The Congress, which is going all out to wrest power from the Left Democratic Front after two consecutive defeats in the state, had pitched the Nilambur byelection as a semi-final ahead of the assembly elections next year.
Little wonder, the party's byelection campaign saw active involvement of
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
- who is the MP from Wayanad after Rahul Gandhi opted for Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.
So, will the byelection result on June 23 impact the relations between Congress and Tharoor? Well, it certainly can.
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If the Congress wins the byelection without Tharoor, who has been an integral part of several party campaigns in the state, it may harden its stance further. On the other hand, if the Congress loses the byelection, it might increase the bargaining power of Tharoor vis-à-vis the state leadership.
When Tharoor praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time in January, it evoked a very strong response from the Congress. Party chief
Mallikarjun Kharge
warned all leaders to toe the party line.
However, the Thiruvananthapuram MP continued with his "personal" praise of PM Modi's foreign policies, much to the embarrassment of the Congress. Post-Pahalgam terror attack, Tharoor, the nationalist, raised his praise pitch completely moving away from the party line. The situation turned from bad to worse when the government picked Tharoor for its global diplomacy mission even as the Congress ignored and sidelined its leader.
It will be interesting to see how Congress and Shashi Tharoor reach a truce in the near future given the recent strain in ties, which saw one Congress leader dub Tharoor as "super spokesperson of the BJP". The assembly elections in Kerala is scheduled for next year, but for the Congress the immediate challenge would perhaps be the upcoming Parliament session. The Congress and other opposition parties will surely go all out to corner Prime Minister Modi over the Pahalgam terror attack and US President Donald Trump's mediation claims on Operation Sindoor.
It remains to be seen if Tharoor, who strongly defended the government during his global outreach post Sindoor, comes to the rescue of the government on the floor of the House. Already the BJP leaders are citing Tharoor to school the Congress on nationalism.
Will Congress and Tharoor bury their differences or will they walk their own separate ways? Well, we may have an answer after the Nilambur results are out.
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