Relieved that KPCC accepted my explanation: Shashi Tharoor

Relieved that KPCC accepted my explanation: Shashi Tharoor
Shashi Tharoor. Photo: PTI/File

Thiruvananthapuram: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, at the centre of a controversy over a perceived pro-Modi slant, on Thursday said he was "relieved" the party accepted his explanation.

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Mullapally Ramachandran is also learnt to have instructed party leaders to avoid airing their views in public over the controversy.

"Yes, that controversy is over. There is no need for any more discussion (on this)," said Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala.

Tharoor said he was "grateful" for those who supported him and he will not comment further on this episode.

"I am relieved that KPCC have accepted my reply; this unfortunate; unnecessary episode is over. I am grateful to all those who have stood by me but will be making no further comment on this matter," he tweeted.

Tharoor had remarked on the performance of the Modi government after his party colleagues Jairam Ramesh and Abhishek Singhvi had expressed similar sentiments.

The three-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram thanked IUML leader and former minister M K Muneer and Muslim Youth League president Sayyid Munavvar Ali Shihab Thangal for their support.

On Wednesday, Tharoor in his explanation emailed to the party said he had never justified Modi but in fact been a "strong critic" of the BJP government.

He said he wanted the KPCC leadership to examine his recent parliamentary debates and point out one other leader from the state who had made at least 10 per cent of his efforts to study, research and oppose the Modi government on every bill introduced.

The Congress leader said he had intervened more than 50 times in Parliament and had spoken against 17 bills with "courage and conviction".

"Can any of my critics from Kerala say they have done so? Who on earth can credibly accuse me of a 'volte-face' from the stand I took when I sat alongside you in the last Lok Sabha?"

Chennithala and three MPs - K Muraleedharan, Benny Behannan and T N Pratapan - were among those who had criticised Tharoor.

Meanwhile, even as the KPCC buried the issue as a closed chapter, it still simmers on in the national front.

Senior Congress leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister M Veerappa Moily has sought disciplinary action against Tharoor, terming his remarks on Modi as “most unfortunate” while pointing an accusing finger at Congress leader Jairam Ramesh too.

Moily also charged on Wednesday that the then union minister Jairam Ramesh was among those responsible for "policy paralysis" during the UPA-2 government.

Ramesh had also reportedly made statements with a pro-modi slant.

Terming the statements as "most unfortunate", he called for appropriate disciplinary action against the two leaders by the Congress leadership.

(With inputs from PTI)

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