Thiruvananthapuram: Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Kodikkunnil Suresh on Friday triggered a controversy by targetting Shashi Tharoor whom he called 'a guest artist in the Congress'.
Suresh, a KPCC working president and the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, hit out at Tharoor for signing a letter written by 23 leaders to party interim chief Sonia Gandhi seeking urgent organisational overhaul.
The Mavelikkara MP's argument was that Tharoor was an inexperienced politician to make a comment on affairs like leadership change. “Everybody in the party should work according to it's policies and programmes,” Suresh told reporters here in response to a query.
"Shashi Tharoor is certainly not a politician. He came to the Congress party as a guest artist. He is still continuing in the party like a guest artist," said Suresh.
Taking a dig at Tharoor, the former union minister also said "Tharoor may be a global citizen", but he should not think that he can take any decision or say anything according to his will.
His statement came a day after Tharoor said that it is the duty of all to work together in the interest of the Congress once the party chief has stated that the matter is "behind us".
"I've been silent for 4 days on recent events in @INCIndia because once the Congress President says the issue is behind us, it is the duty of all of us to work together constructively in the interests of the Party," Tharoor tweeted on Thursday. "I urge all my colleagues to uphold this principle and end the debate," he said in the tweet.
Earlier on Thursday, former KPCC President and Lok Sabha MP K Muraleedharan had also taken a dig at Tharoor over the issue, calling him a "global citizen".
Leaders in the Congress's state unit are also upset with Tharoor over his open support to the Centre's move to lease out Thiruvananthapuram International Airport for 50 years to Adani Enterprises.
"The people want the airport. It's some politicians who are opposed to it," Tharoor had said while all political parties in Kerala, barring the BJP, opposed the Centre's decision to give the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to Adani Enterprises on lease.
Support pour in for Tharoor
Notably, the remarks made by Suresh and Muraleedharan have not gone down well with a section of party leaders and followers. Young MLAs V D Satheesan and K S Sabarinadhan are among those who took to social media with open statements in support of Tharoor.
"Dr Tharoor is always an asset to the plurality of the Indian democracy and the broad vision of the Congress party. As a native of Thiruvananthapuram, I have no doubt about that. He may have different views on issues like the (privatisation) of the airport. As an MP, he should take the initiative to discuss the issues with the party and form a stance. At a time when the opposition parties are running smear campaign against him repeatedly, I wish to speak for him," Sabarinadhan wrote on Facebook, without mentioning his party leaders.
"Shashi Tharoor is not our enemy. He is a Congress leader who is noticed internationally. Our dear MP who defeated fascist forces in the state capital thrice. Our enemies are the CPM and BJP," Satheesan wrote.
Reacting to Suresh's statement, senior party MLA P T Thomas said the KPCC has stated that the Congress leadership in Kerala stood with the position taken by A K Antony in national politics. "However, the move to weaken Tharoor under the guise of this is unfortunate. A universal personality like Tharoor should be assessed on the basis of his high renown," Thomas said in a Facebook post.
Kozhikode DCC president T Siddique also came out in support of Tharoor.
