Miffed with Rahul ‘snub’, Tharoor ups the ante, skips key AICC meet on Kerala polls

As the All India Congress Committee (AICC) held a crucial meeting with top party leaders from Kerala in Delhi on Friday afternoon to firm up strategies for the Assembly polls, Tharoor was conspicuous by his absence.

While the state Congress leaders downplayed his absence, it has once again set tongues wagging. Tharoor, it is learnt, is miffed and is once again feeling unwanted in a party which he once aspired to helm.

Of the states headed for the Assembly polls over the next few months, Kerala is the only one where the embattled party has a realistic chance of clinching a win. While the Congress is a minor player in Tamil Nadu, it is in many ways a fringe force in West Bengal. The electoral battle in Assam, Congress leaders admit, is going to be an uphill task for the party.

Tharoor and the Congress top brass, both at the national level and in Kerala, have not been on the same page on many issues, often setting off speculations about his future in the grand old party while creating a perception that he may be emerging as a rebel extraordinaire.

Tharoor, who began his political journey in 2009, has never shied away from expressing his opinion on a range of state and national issues, much to the discomfort of a section of the Congress leadership.

Now, the question doing the rounds in party circles is, what changed between the Wayanad brainstorming session and Friday’s AICC meeting.

It is learnt that Tharoor felt “deeply insulted” at the party’s grand mahapanchayat in Kochi, which was inaugurated by Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi earlier this week. Gandhi took the names of several leaders who were on the dais while beginning his speech, but did not mention Tharoor.

Congress leaders said Gandhi also did not greet Tharoor. They said he was even asked by the state party leadership to conclude his speech before Gandhi arrived on the stage. Tharoor, a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), complied and wound up his speech minutes after Gandhi came onto the dais. But, sources said, at least six party leaders, including some non-CWC members, spoke after him in the presence of Gandhi, which surprised him.

Gandhi took the names of as many as 12 leaders but did not mention him. Sources in the AICC said Tharoor had informed the AICC’s Kerala in-charge Deepa Dasmunshi and general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal that he would not be able to attend the Friday meeting as he has to be at the Kerala Literature Festival in Kozhikode where he has two events to attend on Saturday.

Sources said Venugopal and Dasmunshi were aware of Tharoor’s “unhappiness”.

Tharoor, sources said, was of the view that he could not compromise on his “self-respect” and that the party cannot “take him for granted.” Tharoor could not be reached for a comment.

The Friday meeting chaired by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by Gandhi was significant from an election point of view. Sources said the high command asked the state leadership to conclude seat sharing talks with allies amicably and candidate selection smoothly.

While the Congress traditionally refrains from projecting a leader for the Chief Minister’s post ahead of the polls, it has to set up key election-related panels, including the campaign and manifesto committees, to ensure coordination and unity of purpose for the polls.

It was also decided that a meeting of the party’s state election committee will be held in Thiruvananthapuram next week where all these key issues will be discussed and decisions taken.