Kozhikode/Kannur (Kerala). Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday questioned how his and MP MK Raghavan’s meeting with eminent personalities and attending functions in Kerala could be termed as factionalism. Tharoor said he was getting “a little worried” about the media hype.
Visibly miffed over Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s visit to Malabar, Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan on Tuesday said no factionalism or parallel activities would be allowed in the party and would be dealt with seriously.
A day after Satheesan’s statement, Tharoor questioned how the activities of the two Congress MPs could be termed as factionalism. Tharoor told reporters in Kannur after meeting Talcheri Archbishop Mar Joseph Pampalani that he was pained to learn from the media that some people were saying that he and Raghavan were involved in factional activities.
“I hope you (media) have not come to inflate any balloon. What you are asking is that according to some people, me and Raghavan are doing factionalism, so I am sorry to hear that. What was the clique activity among the various people we met and the events we attended? I want to know this.
Tharoor said, what did we say, which was contrary to the instructions of the Congress? what did we do wrong? But I am a little worried because there is no need to make an issue of these kinds of things in the media. If media wants, I am ready to give needle.
Satishan had said on Tuesday that fake news cannot harm leaders like him as they are not inflatable balloons that can be deflated by pricking them with a needle. Tharoor made this statement clearly referring to this comment of Satheesan.
Media persons repeatedly questioned whether Tharoor was an inflated balloon, but he refused to comment. Congress MP K Muraleedharan also did not support the ballooning statement and said it was not needed.
Raghavan, a staunch supporter of Tharoor, said, “We respect everyone, including the balloon that burst when the needle was pricked, the needle that pricked the balloon and the hand that held the needle.” Talking to reporters in Kannur, Tharoor referred to the kind of support he has received from people and said traveling anywhere in Kerala is not a problem for him as he receives around 40 invitations for events every week.
He questioned why everyone has a problem with two Congress MPs attending such events, who are not anti-party. The MP from Thiruvananthapuram said, “It is not possible to accept everyone (every invitation).
He said that Raghavan suggested that this time we organize some programs in this area of Malabar as we have not been here for a long time and I agreed. He said, however, I do not understand if two Congress MPs are speaking at party-related and other events, but they have not spoken against the party or its views, then who is being bothered and why.
Tharoor also said that he has no complaints against anyone. He said he had no differences with anyone and never said anything bad against anyone in his 14-year-long political career.
Meanwhile, Muraleedharan told reporters in Kozhikode that Tharoor had not spoken against any Congress leader, nor was he creating factions within the family. He said the Thiruvananthapuram MP has a good hold on Kerala politics and questioning his activities would tantamount to arm-twisting those opposing the Congress, especially when parliamentary elections are due after two years.
Raghavan said he has lodged a complaint with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and demanded an inquiry into why and on whose instructions the District Youth Congress canceled the program in Kozhikode He had organized and invited Tharoor to it.
Leaders of Tharoor’s rival faction in the party believe that through his programmes, he is trying to project himself as the ideal chief ministerial face of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance for the 2026 assembly elections.
