Tharoor may get inducted in CWC

NEW DELHI: With many of the top leaders expecting their names to be nominated for the Congress Working Committee (CWC), it is believed by a section of the party leaders that Shashi Tharoor, Lok Sabha MP from Kerala, may also find a place in the decision making body.
After the internal election of Congress for its prestigious presidential post, Tharoor has met Malikarjun Kharge (AICC president) multiple times. The relationship between the two, according to a leader close to Tharoor, is “progressive”. Sources privy to developments indicate that Tharoor wants to be a member of the body. Yet he may not exhort anyone in order to get the membership of the top council of the party. “He will just wait and watch,” a Congress leader said.
The decision making body will be nominated by the AICC president Malikarjun Kharge. However, it is fair to assume that Rahul Gandhi, the “de facto PM candidate of the Congress”, along with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Sonia Gandhi, will have certain influence in the nomination of CWC members. In addition to that, the relationship with Rahul Gandhi, sources close to Tharoor say, is very good.
Leaders who want Tharoor to have a leadership role in Kerala say that if Tharoor is inducted into the CWC, it will be an important development for him as it will give him a much needed political ascension. Subsequently, Tharoor might find more backers. A Congress leader said, “There is leadership crisis in the state and Tharoor fits exactly in a position where he can benefit from this political vacuum, and if he gets nominated for CWC, that will mobilise many people in the state to take his lead.”
However, the grand old party is also wary about Tharoor’s freewheeling stance in favour of the ruling BJP on several occasions. As he recently endorsed External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, party leaders believe it plays a spoilsport for narrative building. Plus, there are good chances, an AICC leader said, that his political “immature behaviour” will impact his nomination for the CWC.
His supporting even a single agenda of BJP, a party insider said, nullifies all the hard work that the party does in picking up issues of public importance, as it gives the saffron party an opportunity to show to its voters that even Congress leaders are in support of this, as Tharoor represents Congress.
A political analyst said, “Now that he has recently endorsed Jaishankar saying that he is a specialist, it will validate every work he does when he is supporting every policy of Narendra Modi and his government. That as a whole is damaging to the party which is working hard to build a narrative against the government.”