Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday said he has declined to attend a CPI(M) seminar in Kerala after discussing the issue with AICC president Sonia Gandhi and “respecting her views on the matter”. Tharoor, however, termed the whole debacle a “needless controversy” in a stinging statement.
Seemingly upset over criticism directed at him by some state Congress leaders, Tharoor said a similar invitation was extended a month ago for a seminar on the sidelines of the CPI(M) State Party Conference and on that occasion also, he consulted the AICC president and a suitable decision was taken without any media controversy.
“A similar procedure could easily have been followed this time also. I regret that some preferred the unseemly public airing of internal differences, thereby creating a needless controversy in a matter in which AICC’s view was binding. I hope wisdom will prevail in future,” he said in a statement.
The message was apparently meant for colleagues in the Congress in Kerala, who had flagged the issue to Sonia Gandhi at the party’s parliamentary office in Delhi, an NDTV report said.
The Left party had invited Thiruvananthapuram MP, Tharoor, and former Union minister Thomas to attend seminars ahead of its 23rd Party Congress scheduled to be held at Kannur in the state from April 6-10.
Tharoor said he has discussed with the AICC president, the matter of his participation in the seminar on Centre-state relations on the sidelines of the CPI(M) National Party Congress. “I respect her views on this matter and have conveyed to the organizers my inability to participate,” Tharoor added.
The Lok Sabha MP said broader questions of the Congress’ relations with the CPI(M) at the national level, the specific topic of Centre-state relations, and the manner in which invitations from other political parties should be handled, remain to be addressed separately.
Congress’ Kerala unit President K Sudhakaran has said the party had barred its leaders from attending the programme as it was strongly fighting the CPI(M)-led government over the proposed K-Rail project. However, Tharoor had told the media that the topic of the seminar, to which he was invited, was not related to any issues pertaining to Kerala or K-Rail.
Tharoor’s differences with the state party unit have made headlines over the years. The last one was in December, after he refused to sign a petition against a railway project. State party chief K Sudarshan had said Mr Tharoor will be shown the door if he refuses to toe the party line. The matter had escalated after Tharoor appeared to praise CPM’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The state leaders have made frequent complaints to the Central leaders about Tharoor but made no headway, until now.
Explaining why he had wanted to attend the event, Tharoor said, “I had welcomed the invitation on the following grounds — The event is a national one and the highest forum of the CPI(M), organised by its Central Committee, and formulates its national policy. Nationally we have a cooperative relationship with the CPI(M); The topic for the seminar does not involve any matter of sensitivity in Kerala but is on ‘Centre-state relations’, where there is no real difference of opinion between our parties; The event sets a fine example of intellectual exchange on policy issues among ‘anti-BJP opposition parties’, which should in principle be encouraged,” he said.
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