Kochi: Shashi Tharoor, MP, is convinced about the concerns raised by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) over the Left government's SilverLine Rail Corridor project, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan said on Tuesday.
Satheesan said Tharoor has replied to the letter served to him by the party apparently seeking an explanation on his stance that he needed more time to study the project before coming to a conclusion.
The Congress letter was also attached with the study report prepared by the UDF about the project and also detailing the concerns raised by the opposition.
"In the letter, Tharoor said the questions raised by the UDF are relevant and this was the same which he also wanted to ask. Tharoor also made it clear that he has never taken a supportive stand for the project," Satheesan told reporters in Kochi.
What Tharoor had said earlier was that he was yet to study the rail corridor and now it seems he is convinced about our stand, Satheesan said.
Thiruvananthapuram MP, Tharoor, who is on a foreign tour, is yet to comment on the development. Sources in the party said Tharoor would be brought to the forefront of the UDF's agitations against the project.
Tharoor's ambiguous stance on the SilverLine project, also known as K-Rail, had weakened the UDF's agitation against the multi-crore semi high-speed rail project that it fears would take a huge toll on the state's economy and environment.
“If one says he hasn't understood a particular matter, the party has the responsibility to convince that person. The letter was sent for that purpose," Satheesan said.
The opposition leader said it was wrong to say that Tharoor adopted a contradictory opinion about the project. “As a Congress MP, Tharoor can no longer take a different position but can only stand along with the UDF,” he said.
However, former KPCC chief Mullappally Ramachandran continued to criticise Tharoor for his stand and his frequent praise for Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
He said the Indian National Congress was an organisation that has always upheld party discipline.
The former union minister also reminded Tharoor that his position as an MP was the result of relentless hard work by hundreds of Congress activists and so he should not say his opinion forgetting his party and its caders.
"Tharoor is a Member of Parliament and a respected leader. So, it is the All India Congress Committee which should take action in this matter. It is inevitable for the AICC to intervene in the issue and take steps to restrain him," Ramachandran said.
Discontent has been brewing in the state unit of Congress for some time against Tharoor's reluctance to sign a letter prepared by the MPs from the party-led UDF to the Centre against the K-Rail project and for hailing Pinarayi Vijayan for his "investment-friendly" initiatives.
Responding to criticism by his party colleagues, Tharoor had tweeted that on some issues it is necessary to put political differences aside.
Kerala PCC (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran on Sunday said that no one, including Tharoor, in the party has the authority to oppose its directions, and warned the latter that he will be removed from the party if he does not fall in line with its decisions.
"Shashi Tharoor is only a single man in the party. One Shashi Tharoor is not the Congress. If he falls in line with the party decision, he will remain a part of it and if not, then he will be out," Sudhakaran had said.
(With PTI inputs)