Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday met party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi amid reports of discontent within the party, later asserting that “all is good” and that he is on the “same page” as the leadership.
The meeting, held in Kharge’s chamber in the Parliament House complex, lasted over an hour. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal was also present, sources said.
“We had a discussion with my two party leaders, the LoP and the Congress president. We had a very good, constructive, positive discussion,” Tharoor said after the meeting.
“All is good and we are moving together on the same page, what more can I say,” he told reporters in the Parliament premises.
Responding to a question on whether the issue of a chief ministerial face for the Kerala Assembly polls had come up, Tharoor said that was never the issue.
“I am not interested in being the candidate for anything. At the moment I am already an MP, I have the trust of my voters from Thiruvananthapuram. I have their interest to look after in Parliament, that is my job,” he said.
Tharoor added that he was satisfied with the interaction with the top Congress leadership.
Speculation about his unhappiness had gained ground last week after Tharoor skipped a key party strategy meeting for the upcoming Kerala polls. He was believed to be upset over Rahul Gandhi not properly acknowledging his presence at a recent event and over repeated attempts by state leaders to “sideline” him.
Sources close to Tharoor had said that while a series of developments had contributed to his disappointment, the immediate trigger was Gandhi not acknowledging him at the ‘Maha Panchayath’ held in Kochi on January 19 to felicitate local body poll winners.
Gandhi had acknowledged other senior leaders present on the stage and mentioned their names but did not refer to Tharoor — a four-time MP and one of the three Congress Working Committee (CWC) members from Kerala — despite his presence on the dais, the sources said.
Tharoor had also been at the centre of a controversy last year over his comments on the India-Pakistan conflict and the diplomatic outreach following the Pahalgam attack. His remarks were seen as diverging from the Congress’ official stand, drawing criticism from several party leaders who questioned his intentions.
He has, however, maintained that there is no variance in stance on foreign policy and has argued that there must be bipartisanship on such issues.
Meanwhile, Kharge on Friday chaired a key meeting with Kerala leaders to fine-tune the party’s strategy for the Assembly elections.