Thiruvananthapuram: Because the Congress gears up for high-stakes native physique polls and an important meeting election in Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor is barely collaborating within the celebration’s technique conferences or marketing campaign actions. However nobody in Congress appears shocked.
The Print requested Congress officers within the district in regards to the lawmaker’s involvement in native polling efforts, and plenty of stated the lawmaker is basically absent from the state capital. In actual fact, Tharoor was the one UDF member who didn’t participate within the meeting marketing campaign for the latest Nilambur referendum.
Present Thiruvananthapuram District Congress Committee Chairman N. Sakutan advised ThePrint that Tharoor was not very concerned in formulating election technique.
“He has little presence right here and isn’t very concerned in elections. I do not know if he’ll come later,” Saksan stated. He added that the celebration doesn’t really feel his absence a lot as his companies and presence are all the time restricted to his constituency.
Tharoor, a four-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, has been within the highlight for his public stances, which often deviate from celebration strains. In a single such instance, Congress leaders praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on the Ramnath Goenka Lecture (RNG Lecture). This speech, which criticized “colonial pondering”, additionally attacked the Nationwide Congress Social gathering.
Tharoor’s obvious absence comes because the Kerala Meeting prepares for an important election season, with municipal elections scheduled in two phases on December 9 and 11, and meeting polls scheduled for subsequent yr. The battle is particularly necessary for the Congress, which has been within the state’s opposition celebration for the previous two phrases. In Thiruvananthapuram, the celebration assumes larger significance as it’s in energy in solely one of many 14 meeting seats and eight of the 100 company seats within the constituency.
“The 2026 elections are crucial for the Congress and we’ve got arrange a core committee to watch celebration actions. Mr. Tharoor is there because the fourth or fifth member. So, it isn’t about together with him. We’re doing all the things we will,” Unnikrishnan, a Congress employee, advised ThePrint.
The 17-member core committee, shaped this month, is headed by AICC basic secretary Deepa Dasmunshi, who’s accountable for the Keelala unit, KPC president Sunny Joseph, opposition chief VD Sathesan, senior chief KC Vengopal alias Antony, Ramesh Chennithala and Okay Muraleedharan. Muraleedharan, together with Sakuthan, is accountable for making ready the celebration’s native group in Thiruvananthapuram.
ThePrint reached out to Tharoor for remark through message and cellphone name. This report can be up to date if a response is acquired.
“Member absent”
Tharoor, a former UN diplomat with roots in Kerala’s Palakkad district, joined the Congress in 2009 and was posted to Thiruvananthapuram for the Lok Sabha elections in the identical yr. Since then, Tharoor, who has served as an MP 4 instances, has seen his approval scores within the Sabah constituency steadily decline. The victory margin of practically 100,000 votes in each 2009 and 2019 has considerably lowered to only 16,077 votes in opposition to the BJP’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar within the 2024 Sabah elections.
On the identical time, his relations with the Bharatiya Janata Social gathering authorities have soured as he continues to reward the Bharatiya Janata Social gathering authorities, together with on Operation Sindoor. Equally, his evaluation of the LDF authorities’s efforts to draw funding created friction throughout the Congress unit in Kerala.
Not too long ago, on October thirty first, the congressman additionally wrote an article stating: “The affect of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty established the concept political management could possibly be a birthright.” Though he confronted criticism from many Congress figures, the Kerala unit has largely remained silent.
“He’s gifted and has a very good fame. He’s not very skilled as a politician and got here up by means of the ranks at a younger age. He got here in out of the blue…He typically takes his personal positions. He could have his personal motives as effectively. So we’re not taking this factor very critically,” Saksan stated. He added that Tharoor had gained 4 instances from Thiruvananthapuram due to the onerous work of many native officers.
For the reason that Election Fee introduced the native physique polling dates, the councilor has visited the constituency as soon as on Sunday when he campaigned for a number of candidates, together with mayoral candidate and former MLA KS Sabarinathan. The lawmaker plans to go to the district once more in December, in line with his workplace.
Mr. Unnikrishnan, a detailed aide of Okay. Muraleedharan, one other Congress employee who’s being held liable for ballot administration within the Thiruvananthapuram native physique, stated celebration leaders have been comfortable that Mr. Tharoor was campaigning for a candidate.
The official additionally stated the celebration was not significantly involved as Tharoor had utterly disappeared from native politics lately. He stated it also needs to be understood that Tharoor’s feedback would trigger difficulties amongst native celebration leaders.
“We’d like Tharoor, however we do not simply want him,” the official stated.
(Edited by Vinny Mishra)
Additionally learn: Why Bharatiya Janata Social gathering is assured of an enormous victory in Thiruvananthapuram civic polls
