Tharoor drops a bomb, says leaders asked Rahul to seek withdrawal of his candidature

Tharoor made the revelation amid an aggressive campaign for the internal elections in which he is facing Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge, whose candidature has been endorsed by several senior leaders, including those from Kerala. File Photo: PTI

Thiruvananthapuram: In a serious allegation, Shashi Tharoor, MP, on Tuesday said some senior party leaders had persuaded Rahul Gandhi to seek withdrawal of his candidature for the post of Congress president. Tharoor said the former Congress president, however, did not entertain the idea as he was of the view that a contest would only benefit the grand old party.

Tharoor told reporters here that said Gandhi revealed this to him during a recent interaction.

Tharoor made the revelation amid an aggressive campaign for the internal elections in which he is facing Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge, whose candidature has been endorsed by several senior leaders, including those from Kerala.

“He (Rahul Gandhi) reminded me that he has been saying for the past 10 years that there should be a contest for the party chief's post. He also told me that some people have asked him to request me to withdraw my candidature. He told me he would not do so. He said I should not withdraw and that I should contest in the election," Tharoor said.

Earlier in the day, he said that he never expected big leaders to support him and does not expect it even now, but at the same time, he needs everyone's backing.

His comment on the ‘big leaders’ comes in the wake of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran openly extending his support for veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge for the party chief's post. A few days ago, Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan also declared support for Kharge. Senior leaders A K Antony, Oommen Chandy, and Ramesh Chennithala have also rallied behind Kharge, the eighty-year-old leader from Karnataka, who contests the election with the undeclared support of the party high-command.

Asked whether Sudhakaran's public support for Kharge was meant to discourage the party delegates from supporting him, Tharoor said, "Maybe. But I am not saying that. I do not need to decipher what is going on in people's minds. I will say one thing, whatever one says secretly or publicly, the ballot is secret. No one is going to know who voted for whom. People can vote according to their wishes and beliefs. They can decide whom they want to strengthen the party and prepare it to counter the challenges it would face in the future."

The Thiruvananthapuram MP said the KPCC chief probably expressed his personal decision and preference and "there is nothing wrong with that."

Citing the circular issued by the party debarring party office-bearers from campaigning for candidates, Tharoor said Sudhakaran cannot give a direction to the state unit as to who should the delegates vote for. “But please don't ask me about it. If the election authority wants to do something about it, it is up to them," he said.

The polling for the Congress presidential election will be held on October 17. The counting of votes will be taken up on October 19 and the results will be declared the same day. More than 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates will vote in the poll.

(With inputs from PTI)

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