Kerala Congress infighting spills out in open; party MP calls Tharoor guest artist, immature

Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh on Friday called his colleague Shashi Tharoor a "guest artist" and "immature" for writing a letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi seeking changes in the working of the party.

"He has not been able to understand yet on how to restrain his political and parliamentary work within the party limits. There are times when he has taken a different stand compared to the party and behaved with immaturity. He must be a world citizen and have great knowledge, but politically he is immature that is what his actions show," Suresh told reporters.

Suresh advised the fellow Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram to work within the confines of the party.

"He just came to Congress in 2009 during parliament elections, as a guest artist. Even now he is behaving like a guest artist. He should work within the confines of the party," said Suresh.

Tharoor is one of the 23 leaders who wrote a letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi demanding changes in the working of the party.

Meanwhile, other Congress leaders from the state, including representatives of both senior and the young brigade in the party rallied behind Tharoor and defended him.

PT Thomas MLA from Thrikkakkara assembly constituency in a Facebook post said that Tharoor should be judged by his charisma.

"KPCC (Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee) has unequivocally stated that the Congress leadership in Kerala is in line with the stand taken by AK Antony in national politics. But the move to weaken Shashi Tharoor by using it as a cover-up is unfortunate. A global citizen like Tharoor should be judged by his charisma," said Thomas.

It is to be noted that, as per sources, even as Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi asked the Congress Working Committee (CWC) members on August 24 to relieve her from the top post, senior party leaders Manmohan Singh and AK Antony said that she should continue till a new party president is elected.

Another Congress MLA KS Sabarinathan, son of former Kerala Speaker and Senior Congress leader late G. Karthikeyan called Tharoor an asset to the pluralism of Indian democracy in a Facebook post.

"Tharoor has always been an asset to the pluralism of Indian democracy and the broader vision of the Congress Party," wrote Sabarinathan.

He further wrote that Tharoor being a "universal citizen" used his contacts to carry out COVID-19 related activities for Thiruvananthapuram despite Central Government suspending Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) for two years.

"It is because he is a universal citizen that he has been able to carry out many exemplary COVID activities for Thiruvananthapuram using contacts when the Central Government stopped MPLAD funds during the COVID-19 period," he said.

When contacted, KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran, and Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala did not react to the development.

Speaking to , a Senior Congress leader said that the party leadership has asked them to refrain from airing issues in media for now.

"What has been said by those leaders is now in open. Strong leadership in the centre is an absolute necessity. It's unfortunate that those leaders who stood for it are now being tried to be silenced," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )

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