Two Congress Lok Sabha members from Kerala on Tuesday appeared to distance themselves from party colleague Shashi Tharoor who is expected to file his papers for the party’s presidential elections, saying anyone could contest the presidential elections as the Congress was a democratic party and that Tharoor’s decision to contest was his “personal decision”.
The two MPs said their first choice for the party’s top post will be Rahul Gandhi, or a nominee of the Gandhi family.
“People want Rahul Gandhi at the helm. His popularity during the ongoing yatra (Bharat Jodo Yatra) is testimony to it. We came to know about Tharoor’s candidature through the media…,” said Vatakara lawmaker K Muralidharan.
If Rahul sticks to his decision to stay away from the leadership role, “we will go by the directive of the Gandhi family,” added Muralidharan, 65.
Kodikunnil Suresh, 60, echoed his opinion. “It is Tharoor’s personal decision and he hasn’t consulted any of us. We all want Rahul Gandhi to come back. If he is not willing we will support the candidate suggested by the Gandhi family. The Congress is a democratic party and anyone can contest for the party president’s post,” Kodikunnil Suresh, who represents the Mavelikkara seat in Lok Sabha and is working president of the state unit, said.
To be sure, the Kerala unit of the Congress has never been too fond of Shashi Tharoor, a former international civil servant who quit the United Nations in 2006, and joined the Congress ahead of the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. The three-time Lok Sabha member represents Thiruvananthapuram in Parliament. In the past, the state unit has expressed reservations about what was described as “Tharoor’s style of functioning and his independent position on many issues.” Kerala unit president K Sudhakaran earlier said party leaders were free to exercise their conscience vote in case an election is held but later nuanced his position, saying that they will go with the Gandhi family’s choice for the president’s post.
The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) has already drawn up plans to pass a formal resolution requesting Rahul Gandhi to return as party chief. A senior Congress leader in the state said the proposed resolution was delayed due to the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi which started from Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari on September 7 and entered Kerala on September 10. On Wednesday, the yatra will reach Ernakulam district.
A bunch of state units including Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have already passed resolutions that ask Rahul Gandhi to take up the leadership role.
Shashi Tharoor, who was among 23 leaders who wrote to Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking organisational reforms, met the party president on Monday in the context of his plans to file his nomination papers.
People close to Tharoor said he will file his papers by next week. The process for filing nominations will be held from September 24 to 30; the last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 8. The election, if necessary, will be held on Oct 17 and the results will be declared in two days.
Tharoor has made it clear that he will not contest against any candidate from the Gandhi family.
At his meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Congress leaders said he was told that “anyone who wants to contest can stand for president” and assured that the election will be fair and transparent. Gandhi also conveyed to Tharoor that there will be no official party candidate in the upcoming poll. Before his meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Tharoor on Monday also endorsed a petition by younger members of the party seeking “constructive reforms” in the Congress.
The interim Congress president also summoned AICC general secretary in-charge of organisation KC Venugopal to Delhi. Venugopal, who was working on the yatra, flew down to Delhi on Monday evening.
