Shashi Tharoor says ‘didn’t get a missed call’ for Kerala bypoll; Congress star campaigners list tells a different story

Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor on 19 June claimed the party did not invite him to campaign for its candidate in the Nilambur Assembly byelection in Kerala. Tharoor even said that he didn’t even get a missed call to campaign for the party's candidate in the bypolls held on 19 June. 

“It is true that I was not invited (to campaign). As you know, I was abroad for around 16 days. Even then, I did not get an invite or even a missed call...,” Tharoor, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, told reporters when asked why he was absent from the party’s campaign in Nilambur.

Tharoor's remarks come on a day when Kerala’s Nilambur seat is voting in the by-election. Tharoor was conspicuous by his absence during the campaigning while senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, drummed up support for the party candidate.

“But regardless of whether I campaigned or not, I want the Congress to win in Nilambur. We have a good candidate there, and our workers have worked very hard,” he said.

Tharoor was, however, among the list of star campaigners submitted to the Election Commission by the Congress party. According to the list of star campaigners submitted by the Congress to the Election Commission, Tharoor's name is in eighth place among the 40 people, including KC Venugopal, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, VD Satheesan and Ramesh Chennithala.

Congress General Secretary Mukul Wasnik submitted the list to the Election Commission of India through an official letter dated 2 June. The Election Commission officially communicated this list to the Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala, on 5 June for circulation to relevant authorities. The list is available on the Election Commission of India website.

The bypoll was necessitated after the seat fell vacant since the two-time MLA PV Anvar, previously supported by the Left, switched allegiance to the Congress party. Anvar contested the election as an Independent.

The Congress nominated Aryadan Shoukath, the son of former MLA Aryadan Mohammed, while the ruling LDF backed M Swaraj.

‘Some differences of opinion’ with Congress

In the same conversation with reporters, Tharoor admitted that he has some differences of opinion with the party. Tharoor, however, said that he will discuss these differences privately when someone from the party approaches him.

“I have been working in Congress for the past 16 years. I have some differences of opinion with the party, and I will discuss them inside the party...Today I don't want to speak it. I need to meet and talk, let the time come, and I will discuss it,” Tharoor said.

Tharoor, who took the India case post Operation Sindoor in foreign countries while heading an all-party delegation earlier this month, has, with his remarks, seemingly riled his party for showing support for the Narendra Modi government over recent military actions across the border in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Some Congress leaders even accused Tharoor of being a ‘super spokesperson’ for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

On June 10, Tharoor called his meeting with Prime Minister Modi “good, lively and informal”. PM Modi met the members of the all-party delegations of Operation Sindoor at his residence, 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, in New Delhi.

(With ANI inputs)