Congress in Kerala seeks action against Shashi Tharoor over ‘praise’ for PM Modi

Almost the entire Congress leadership in Kerala has lashed out at senior leader and member of Parliament from Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor, seeking disciplinary action against him for “praising” Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Tharoor and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi had recently voiced their support for senior party colleague Jairam Ramesh, who had said at a recent book launch that Modi’s governance model was “not a complete negative story”. Singhvi had echoed Ramesh’s views and said that demonizing Modi all the time would not help.

Tharoor on Sunday defended Ramesh’s act. “Jairam Ramesh is part of the manifesto committee. Should he be taught a lesson?” he asked. “Modi should be praised whenever he says or does the right thing, which would add credibility to our criticisms whenever he errs,” Tharoor had written on Twitter.

Kerala Congress is up in arms as it gears up for the crucial bypolls to six seats, including the assembly constituency of Vattiyoorkavu, which falls under Tharoor’s parliamentary constituency, and where the party is engaged in a prestige battle with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“The politics in this is straightforward. We don’t want to look like praising Modi at a time when six by-elections are knocking at our doors,” said a senior leader from Kerala, requesting anonymity.

Congress state president Mullappally Ramachandran, leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, former Vattiyoorkavu MLA K. Muraleedharan, who was elected in the recent Lok Sabha polls and relinquished the seat, and Congress-led United Democratic Front convener Benny Behanan have openly denounced Tharoor’s statement.

T.N. Prathapan, the Congress MP from Thrissur, has also written to party president Sonia Gandhi.

“Those who want to praise Modi can go and join BJP. They need not come and campaign in the coming by-election in Vattiyoorkavu,” Muraleedharan said.

“Some Congress leaders say to criticize Modi, he needs to be praised once in a while. These are all top leaders of Congress. I wonder what has happened to them,” Muraleedharan added.

The comments by Tharoor, Singhvi and Ramesh have, however, been welcomed by the BJP. “We take it as a happy coincidence. Politicians who can think are understanding that the national picture is changing. Not just Tharoor, many other leaders in Kerala have similar views. Abdullakutty for instance,” said Kerala BJP spokesperson S. Suresh.