Let anyone tell anything, I will continue my work, says Shashi Tharoor

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, whose decision to switch to Kerala politics has irked party colleagues, on Saturday vowed to keep meeting people in the state irrespective of the mounting criticism.

His remarks come a day after an array of party leaders made a veiled attack against his move to shift to state politics.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he was attending programmes across Kerala because he gets a lot of invitations from various quarters. There is nothing special about it as other politicians are doing the same, he added.

“Let anyone say anything… I am doing my work… Whatever anyone says, I have no issue,” he told reporters when asked about the statements of some of the Congress leaders.

He insisted that he was doing now is what he has been doing for the last 14 years.

Also read: Possible for BJP to lose majority in 2024, says Cong leader Shashi Tharoor

Criticism from Congress

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala was among those who have flayed Tharoor.

Taking a dig at Tharoor’s reported willingness to become the Chief Ministerial candidate of the Congress in the Assembly elections in 2026, Chennithala said: “If someone has stitched a coat for the CM post, they should be ready to leave it behind and work for the success of the party in the upcoming parliamentary elections.”

He also said that no one should claim what position they would hold in the next four years.

Expressing displeasure over party leaders disclosing their political ambitions publicly, AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal said that everything should be discussed within party forums and urged leaders not to give the media any chance to debate on such matters.

KPCC chief K Sudhakaran said it was not proper for anyone to decide a post or constituency on their own for the upcoming assembly elections.

Also read: Shashi Tharoor’s CM aspirations: The reasons, and reactions in Kerala

Throor defends himself

When reporters asked about “CM coat” remark by Chennithala, Tharoor said he had not stitched any coat for the state’s top post.

“Our Chief Ministers usually don’t wear coats… I do not know who stitched the coat and when… You (media) should ask the question to those who made such statements…not to me,” he said in a lighter vein.

Earlier this week, the Congress central leadership also clarified that it was not proper for any MP to make statements on their candidature and that the party has its own organisational mechanism to choose its candidates.

Tharoor, an author and a former diplomat, enjoys one of the biggest following on Twitter. He in fact led the list until 2013 when then Gujarat Chief Minister and now Prime Minister Narendra Modi overtook him on Twitter.

Tharoor has represented Thiruvananthapuram in the Lok Sabha since 2009. He is a prolific writer, and an author of more than 20 books.

(With inputs from Agencies)