The diplomat-turned-politician has established itself as an alternative to
The diplomat-turned-politician has established itself as an alternative to
Outwardly, Congress leaders from Kerala appear neutral on this Shashi Tharoor’s likely candidature for the post of Congress PresidentT, but his actual stand on the sitting Thiruvananthapuram MP running for office in the upcoming organizational elections is unclear.
President of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) K Sudhakaran said: That if Mr. Tharoor wants to contest elections, there is nothing wrong in that because Congress is a democratic party.
Although Mr Tharoor said he would take a final decision on entering the fray only after the election notification is issued, he wants speculation of his possible candidature to be a kite-flying exercise as he knows a candidate who is not sponsored by Gandhi . The family will suffer a huge loss.
Therefore, it is still uncertain whether Mr Tharoor will eventually take a shot at the post of All India Congress Committee (AICC) president.
Nonetheless, like any shrewd politician, Mr. Tharoor has been keeping people guessing. For example, when asked whether the next Congress president should be from a Hindi-speaking state, Mr. Tharoor said, “Look, these days if you want to be in politics, you need to speak Hindi. able to speak. I can too.”
But, he must first attract Congress leaders in his home state, most of whom are said to be loyal to Gandhi. Given his stature, the role of Congress Working Committee member AK Antony, a staunch supporter of the Gandhi family, will be looked into. Mr. Antony has not taken a stand on organizational elections as the Gandhi family had made it clear that no one from the family would contest the elections.
Then there is the presence of AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, whose disapproval could badly hurt Mr. Tharoor. But it is also a fact that now the Congress party in Kerala is fueled by a new crop of free-thinking and spirited leaders like VD Satheesan, for whom Mr. Tharoor could be a promising alternative.
Since he is identified with the disgruntled G-23, Mr. Tharoor is likely to emerge as a compromise candidate in case loyalists such as Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge drop out of the race. Look foggy. Mr. Tharoor was not among the G-23 leaders that the Gandhi family tried to include as the Ginger group called for an organizational change and called for collective and inclusive leadership.
They have already established themselves as an alternative to the traditional Congress establishment symbolizing the Gandhi family. Like Manish Tewari and Karti Chidambaram, Mr Tharoor has also called for transparency in the election process and has written to the chairman of the party’s Central Election Authority, Madhusudan Mistry, seeking publication of the electoral roll for the post of AICC president for the upcoming election. . This looks like a show of defiance as this demand was already rejected by Mr. Venugopal saying that the Presidential election of the Congress was an internal process and there is no need to make the electoral rolls public.
As a former international diplomat, public intellectual and best-selling author, Mr. Tharoor is also a non-conformist, having clashed several times with former KPCC presidents. This characteristic in them may be ridiculed by traditional Congressmen, but for the ambitious middle class, a constituency Congress can only ignore at its own peril. Mr. Tharoor is certainly considered a separate class. But the votes of these Congressmen are counted for being elected as AICC President.
biju.govind@thehindu.co.in