JOIN USSpeculation rife over Tharoor’s next move at Congress plenary session
As the Congress is heading to plenary Session next week, all eyes are on whether Shashi Tharoor, who unsuccessfully contested for the party president post, will throw his hat in the ring.
While Tharoor has so far not given any indications of entering the fray, three senior MPs from Kerala — K Muralidharan, Benny Behanan and M K Raghavan — met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, urging him to utilise the Thiruvananthapuram MP’s services in a better manner.
The MPs are learnt to have told Kharge that omitting a popular face like Tharoor from a possible seat at the Congress Working Committee would be counterproductive.
The last time Congress held elections to the CWC was in the 1997 Kolkata session. Since then, members were nominated to the CWC.
According to his close aides, the chances of Tharoor contesting for a seat in CWC are unlikely and they hope that the Cong chief will not hold it against him for contesting against Kharge. Tharoor also expects that he will be nominated to the party’s highest decision making body by Kharge.
A section of Kerala leaders is not that enthused with Tharoor’s prospects, as it will increase his clout in the state, where he could emerge as the chief ministerial face, an eventuality with an enhanced profile. Tharoor, who polled an impressive 1,072 votes, has angered some Kerala leaders through his recent profile-building tours.
Interestingly, Behanan, considered close to Oommen Chandy, meeting Kharge and favouring Tharoor is seen as the support of the faction led by the former Kerala chief minister.
A K Antony and Chandy, a CWC member who is presently under treatment in Bengaluru and is likely to skip the Raipur Plenary starting on February 24, may urge the leadership to not consider them for a seat in the CWC owing to their health conditions. This could open up space for Tharoor, but there are other hopefuls from Kerala, including former Kerala Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala.
It is to be seen whether Chennithala, who has a wide network of connections among leaders across the country, opts to fight it out in the elections or prefers to be nominated.