Thiruvananthapuram: Thiruvananthapuram MP Tharoor, who was appointed as co-chairman of the Congress’ 2026 Kerala Election Marketing campaign Committee on Thursday evening, is unlikely to attend the committee’s first assembly on February 16 on the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram.
On Friday, a day after the All India Congress Committee (AICC) issued a press release appointing Tharoor as co-chairman of the election committee, Ramesh Chennithala, chairman of the 10-member election committee, instructed reporters that Tharoor won’t attend the assembly as a result of a leg damage.
Tharoor’s appointment comes simply weeks after he met Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi, following months of uncertainty over his strained relationship with social gathering leaders.
Talking to reporters in Alappuzha on Friday, senior Congress chief and former Chief of Opposition (LoP) in Kerala, Chennithala expressed gratitude to the social gathering excessive command for appointing him because the election commissioner earlier than declaring the primary assembly on February 16.
“As a result of his leg damage, I do not know whether or not Shashi Tharoor will be capable to attend the assembly in particular person. I’ve spoken to him. The remainder of the members might be current,” Chennithala stated, including that his social gathering and the Congress-led opposition coalition United Democratic Entrance are taking an opportunity on a concerted motion to alter the state’s governance.
In accordance with his Tharoor X deal with, the lawmaker is within the US over the weekend to attend a number of occasions together with Massachusetts Institute of Know-how (MIT) and Harvard College.
The MP’s workplace in Thiruvananthapuram instructed ThePrint that Tharoor’s program for the rally marketing campaign and his subsequent go to to the state capital is but to be finalized.
Moreover Chennithala and Tharoor, the committee consists of convenor Vadakara MP Shafi Parambil and members Hibi Eden, Roji M John, CR Mahesh, Mathew Kusarnadan, Ramya Haridas, M Riju and Deepti Mary Varghese.
Equally, the Manifesto Committee is chaired by Benny Behanan and consists of Kodikunil Suresh, Dean Kuriakose and Jebi Mather.
Citing the continued Puthuyuga Yatra led by opposition chief VD Satheesan in Kerala, Chennithala stated preparations for the meeting polls by the Congress-led UDF have began early.
“We goal to achieve the individuals with a coordinated marketing campaign between the UDF and the Congress. The individuals desire a change of presidency. That is confirmed within the native physique, Congress and Meeting polls,” he stated.
Tharoor has been within the highlight since final yr after the Thiruvananthapuram MP made a number of public statements in assist of the Narendra Modi-led authorities and its insurance policies, marking a transparent departure from the official stance of the Congress social gathering.
Mr. Tharoor was a member of the 17-member core committee arrange by the Congress to supervise the December native physique polls in Kerala. Nevertheless, the chief was on the bottom campaigning for only some days.
Nevertheless, after attending a celebration management camp in Wayanad in early January, Tharoor sparked an issue by denying any pressure and claiming that his stand was the identical because the Congress on primary topics and that his unbiased articles had been being taken out of context.
Nevertheless, the difficulty resurfaced after the social gathering chief skipped a key social gathering assembly in Delhi in late January. Shortly after, Tharoor held one other assembly in Delhi with Opposition Chief Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, after which Tharoor stated the discussions had been “constructive” and “constructive” and the leaders had been transferring on “the identical web page”.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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