Tharoor looks to become Congress’ CM face in Kerala

NEW DELHI: After Congress’ own presidential election, in which Shashi Tharoor was a losing contestant, politics in Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) is gaining momentum in which he has become a fulcrum of controversies within the party.
The activities he has undertaken include attending programmes assiduously, thus seeking more visibility and sending out the clear signal that he was the power-centre of Kerala Congress, a source said. He is projecting himself as the Chief Ministerial face of the party in Kerala, and has support on this on the ground.
A senior Congress leader said, “Before the elections, he was invited at district and block level programmes, but he would never attend them. After the loss in the presidential election, he has suddenly started going to block and district level programmes.”
“There is, moreover, a different kind of acceptance for Tharoor within and without the party,” he continued, “in the recently held AICC presidential elections, he got more than half the delegates’ votes from Kerala at around 120.” A section of Congress leaders believe he is not just attending programmes, but this is his reachout to gatherings with political ramifications. Subsequently, the party leaders have also accepted that Tharoor is preparing to be a face worthy of given charge of the state by exercising his clout in the party and building his individual voter base. However, his politicking has made other ambitious leaders in the party insecure.
Responding to Shashi Tharoor’s Malabar tour, V.D. Satheesan, Leader of Opposition in the state, had recently said that no parallel activity or factionalism would be allowed in the party. However, it appears that there is no further public rift between the two. Party leaders indicate that since Tharoor is a popular leader, speaking against him will make him even more popular. Moreover, as the Bharat Jodo Yatra has completed in Kerala, the leadership in the state is trying to avoid any kind of feud that will end up highlighting the party as a divided house.
A source privy to the developments said there is a small group of partymen who are close to Tharoor and are organising his events. “There is a perception in the party that without informing the party leadership, he is attending events suddenly. We cannot blame him for attending the programmes but the message he is sending is wrong,” a senior Congress leader said.
A senior leader in the party said, “Nobody from the AICC can stop him in doing what he is doing, he has every right to do that. Also, the state leaders want to build a cadre and they are saying we should capitalise on his leadership. Yet, what he is doing is not helping the party. He should stand with the party or else there will be more groupism. In Kerala, nobody is against him. It is just that some people are misguiding him.”