New Delhi: Social media is witnessing criticisms over exclusion of Shashi Tharoor from the list of Congress star campaigners for Gujarat Assembly elections.
Following his exclusion from the star list, a national media reported quoting sources close to Shashi Tharoor that he has opted out of campaigning in the Gujarat state elections.
Reports said that though a student feeder organization of the Congress approached Tharoor to attend a Gujarat election-related program, he refused to entertain it.
The allegation that has cropped up now is that Shashi Tharoor who contested for the Congress president post against the candidate fielded by the Congress High Command is being sidelined by the party leadership.
The Congress leadership has come out responding to the allegation.
The party circles said that Tharoor was not a star campaigner previously too and hence the allegation of his omission was baseless.
The Congress leadership has come out with the explanation following criticisms from Congress workers too over the omission of Tharoor from the list of 40 star campaigners including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Sachin Pilot, Jignesh Mevani, Kanhaiya Kumar, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Rajya Sabha MP Digvijay Singh, Haryana former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan are among the Congress star campaigners.
Senior leaders Ramesh Chennithala, Thariq Anwar, B K Hariprasad, Mohan Prakash, Shakthisinh Gohil, Raghu Sarma, Jagadish Thakur, Sukhram Rathva and Sivajirao Moghe too will campaign for the party in the Assembly elections.
The elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5.
The counting of votes will take place on December 8. Out of the 182 Assembly constituencies, polling will be held in 89 constituencies in the first phase and 93 constituencies in the second phase.
BJP has already started its vigorous campaign to ensure continuity in the rule. Congress and Aam Aadmi Party are making a valiant bid to upstage the BJP calculations and come to power in the state.
