Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has denied media reports claiming that he had held discussions in Dubai with a businessman from Kerala associated with the CPM.
Tharoor told reporters he saw the reports during his flight to Dubai, where he had gone to attend a literature festival, adding that it was not right to comment on such news in a foreign country.
"I was on a flight to Dubai when a section of the media reported that I had held talks with an intermediary assigned by the Kerala CPM leadership. There is no truth to the speculation," the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.
However, sources in Dubai told The Telegraph that the CPM leadership wanted to capitalise on Tharoor’s strained relations with the Congress top brass.
"Tharoor will not ditch the Congress. He has always maintained that he is answerable to his voters in Thiruvananthapuram. Instead of directly getting involved with Tharoor, the CPM leadership decided to engage a billionaire businessman based in Abu Dhabi to put out feelers,” the source said.
Speculation about Tharoor possibly switching to another political party surfaced following reports that he was upset with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi not adequately acknowledging him at a recent event in Kochi as well as alleged attempts by party leaders in Kerala to sideline him.
Congress sources said Tharoor was expected to hold talks with Rahul after returning from Dubai.
CPM state secretary M.V. Govindan on Monday dismissed questions about any discussion on Tharoor joining the party as mere speculation, saying such reports had no relevance.
"Tharoor continues to be a prominent leader of the Congress. He follows a different approach of regularly praising the BJP Prime Minister. In such a situation, I do not think rumours of him joining the CPM are relevant," Govindan said.
Asked whether there would be any obstacle to accepting Tharoor if he decided to switch to the CPM, Govindan said the party followed a common rule of accepting individuals, groups or parties who were willing to oppose communal forces in national politics and approve of the development policies of the Left Front in the state.
Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V.D. Satheesan, said he was unaware that Tharoor had caused any problem for the Congress.