News Analysis India

Tag: Shashi Tharoor

  • Congress president poll: All in party wish to take on BJP and not each other, says Tharoor 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday said all in the party wish to take on the BJP rather than each other.

    The Thiruvananthapuram MP who is set for an electoral face-off with Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge for the party president’s post, said the two have no ideological difference.

    “Let me make clear that I agree with @kharge ji that all of us in @incIndia wish to take on the BJP rather than each other. There is no ideological difference between us. The choice for our voting colleagues Oct 17 is only on how to do it most effectively,” Tharoor said in a tweet.

    Let me make clear that I agree with @kharge ji that all of us in @incIndia wish to take on theBJP rather than each other. There is no ideological difference between us. The choice for our voting colleagues Oct17 is only on how to do it most effectively.#ThinkTomorrowThinkTharoor
    — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 3, 2022
    His remarks came a day after Kharge said he told Tharoor that it would be better to have a consensus candidate but the Lok Sabha MP insisted on a contest for the “sake of democracy”.

    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.

    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday said all in the party wish to take on the BJP rather than each other.

    The Thiruvananthapuram MP who is set for an electoral face-off with Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge for the party president’s post, said the two have no ideological difference.

    “Let me make clear that I agree with @kharge ji that all of us in @incIndia wish to take on the BJP rather than each other. There is no ideological difference between us. The choice for our voting colleagues Oct 17 is only on how to do it most effectively,” Tharoor said in a tweet.

    Let me make clear that I agree with @kharge ji that all of us in @incIndia wish to take on theBJP rather than each other. There is no ideological difference between us. The choice for our voting colleagues Oct17 is only on how to do it most effectively.#ThinkTomorrowThinkTharoor
    — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 3, 2022
    His remarks came a day after Kharge said he told Tharoor that it would be better to have a consensus candidate but the Lok Sabha MP insisted on a contest for the “sake of democracy”.

    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.

  • Congress president poll: Tharoor challenges rival Kharge for public debate

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Congress presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor on Sunday challenged rival Mallikarjun Kharge to a public debate similar to those conducted in Western democracies to help the voters choose the best candidate to lead the party.

    He said that the Congress voters are spread across the vast length and breadth of India and it was difficult for any candidate to reach all of them within the short span of two-and-a-half weeks of campaigning time allowed as per the election schedule.

    Claiming that he had no ideological differences with Kharge, Tharoor said an open exchange of ideas between candidates will help the delegates imbibe the party’s dominant ideas and lead to galvanising the organisation. He said such a debate will also attract the general public to the Congress party. 

    Tharoor, who has been running a Twitter hashtag “ThinkTomorrowThinkTharoor”, had earlier dubbed Kharge as a “candidate of continuity” and the Congress party’s Bhishma Pitamah, said “I have a vision for Congress which I will be sending to all the delegates (voters on presidential election), we are going to seek their support… I am here to be voice of all party workers.”

    He said the nomination papers he had submitted “reflect extraordinarily wide range of support extended voluntarily to me by party workers across India.” He submitted six sets of forms, which, he said, “represent party workers from a dozen states in India. We’re very pleased to have signs of party colleagues from Kashmir to Kerala, from Punjab to Nagaland. I hope my campaign will appeal to them and represent the way forward for the party.”

    ALSO READ | In run for Congress president, Shashi Tharoor gets ‘surprise’ support from Kerala

    Promising not to let down party workers, Tharoor said “those who would like to continue the status quo would not be inclined to vote for me because I represent change, a different approach, and a vision to take the party forward in a different way as for some years we’ve been suffering setbacks.”

    Tharoor released a detailed manifesto for reviving the party’s fortunes. Among the proposals are a two-term cap for the party president; no seat for two-term losers; constitution of a shadow cabinet; transparent functioning; techno-management; revamp of students, youth and women wings; reach out to industries, professionals and MSMEs; decentralise leadership; and emphasis on India’s innate ideas of pluralism, secularism and economic growth.

    He thanked Sonia Gandhi’s guidance and vision and said “it is a privilege to serve the only party in India with an open democratic process to choose its leader… She assured me that the party has no official candidate and the Gandhi family will stay neutral.”

    Fobbed off consensus ployKharge said he told Tharoor to settle for a consensus candidate, but the latter insisted on a contest for democracy’s sake. Meanwhile, three young Congress leaders — Deepender Hooda, Naseer Hussain and Gourav Vallabh — resigned as spokespersons to campaign for Kharge 

    NEW DELHI: Congress presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor on Sunday challenged rival Mallikarjun Kharge to a public debate similar to those conducted in Western democracies to help the voters choose the best candidate to lead the party.

    He said that the Congress voters are spread across the vast length and breadth of India and it was difficult for any candidate to reach all of them within the short span of two-and-a-half weeks of campaigning time allowed as per the election schedule.

    Claiming that he had no ideological differences with Kharge, Tharoor said an open exchange of ideas between candidates will help the delegates imbibe the party’s dominant ideas and lead to galvanising the organisation. He said such a debate will also attract the general public to the Congress party. 

    Tharoor, who has been running a Twitter hashtag “ThinkTomorrowThinkTharoor”, had earlier dubbed Kharge as a “candidate of continuity” and the Congress party’s Bhishma Pitamah, said “I have a vision for Congress which I will be sending to all the delegates (voters on presidential election), we are going to seek their support… I am here to be voice of all party workers.”

    He said the nomination papers he had submitted “reflect extraordinarily wide range of support extended voluntarily to me by party workers across India.” He submitted six sets of forms, which, he said, “represent party workers from a dozen states in India. We’re very pleased to have signs of party colleagues from Kashmir to Kerala, from Punjab to Nagaland. I hope my campaign will appeal to them and represent the way forward for the party.”

    ALSO READ | In run for Congress president, Shashi Tharoor gets ‘surprise’ support from Kerala

    Promising not to let down party workers, Tharoor said “those who would like to continue the status quo would not be inclined to vote for me because I represent change, a different approach, and a vision to take the party forward in a different way as for some years we’ve been suffering setbacks.”

    Tharoor released a detailed manifesto for reviving the party’s fortunes. Among the proposals are a two-term cap for the party president; no seat for two-term losers; constitution of a shadow cabinet; transparent functioning; techno-management; revamp of students, youth and women wings; reach out to industries, professionals and MSMEs; decentralise leadership; and emphasis on India’s innate ideas of pluralism, secularism and economic growth.

    He thanked Sonia Gandhi’s guidance and vision and said “it is a privilege to serve the only party in India with an open democratic process to choose its leader… She assured me that the party has no official candidate and the Gandhi family will stay neutral.”

    Fobbed off consensus ploy
    Kharge said he told Tharoor to settle for a consensus candidate, but the latter insisted on a contest for democracy’s sake. Meanwhile, three young Congress leaders — Deepender Hooda, Naseer Hussain and Gourav Vallabh — resigned as spokespersons to campaign for Kharge
     

  • When a candidate decides to contest, how I can stop him: Mallikarjun Kharge on Shashi Tharoor

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Nominee for the Congress president post Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said he told fellow contender Shashi Tharoor that it would be better to have a consensus candidate, but the Lok Sabha MP insisted on a contest for the “sake of democracy”.

    Kharge said if he becomes the party chief, he will consult the Gandhi family and other senior leaders and implement the good things suggested by them, even as he rejected claims that he was the “official candidate” backed by the Gandhis.

    Launching his Congress presidential poll campaign with a press conference at his residence here, 80-year-old Kharge said there is no G-23 camp now and all those leaders want to fight unitedly against the RSS-BJP and therefore are supporting him.

    Several dissident leaders such as Bhupinder Hooda, Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari and Prithviraj Chavan of the group of 23, which had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi in 2020 for large scale organisational reform, have put their weight behind Kharge by becoming his proposers instead of backing Tharoor who was a prominent member of the grouping.

    Kharge said all senior leaders and youth leaders urged him to contest the polls as no member of the Gandhi family — Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra — wanted to become the party chief.

    “All my colleagues told me to fight the party president poll and on their calling and encouragement, I got inspiration as they extended their cooperation because Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi do not want to become president,” he said.

    Kharge asserted that he had not entered the poll fray to oppose anyone but to strengthen the Congress through his views and to take forward the party ideology.

    He said that in line with ‘one person, one post’ principle of the party, he resigned as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha on the day he filed the nomination.

    Kharge elaborated on his political journey of struggles and successes, and asserted that working for a party is not a part-time job but a full-time work.

    “I have been working full-time. If I sat in Parliament then I would get up only in the evening at the time of shut down. It is my habit that whatever I take up, I work sincerely,” he said.

    Asked about Tharoor’s remarks that Kharge is a candidate of continuity and status quo, the Rajya Sabha MP said, “He (Tharoor) may have his views. The status quo and reforms he talks of will be decided by the 9,300-odd delegates, after that a committee will be formed (Congress Working Committee). The committee as a whole will decide all policy matters that will be formulated by consensus and we will implement that. It will not be done by one person. For me the key word is ‘Hum (We)’ instead of ‘main (Me). We will decide together and wherever there are shortcomings, we will take action,” he said.

    Kharge said senior leaders urged him to contest in view of the pressing issues facing the country such as high unemployment, rising inflation, widening gap between the rich and the poor and the BJP not fulfilling any of its promises.

    “Will always work to take forward party’s principles and ideology,” he said.

    Rejecting claims that he was the official candidate and the BJP’s criticism that the Gandhi family will wield real power, Kharge said the BJP always tries to undermine the Congress.

    “When did they (BJP) have elections, do they have an election authority? How many delegates they have? Who elected J P Nadda? Have their presidents been elected in polls.

    In the Congress, we have election authority, delegates, voting power, candidates in fray.

    Still they (BJP) are saying election is not happening, the Gandhi family is controlling,” he said.

    Kharge said the Gandhi family has sacrificed a lot for this country and pointed out that Sonia Gandhi did not even want to join politics and was persuaded on the pretext that the country needs her services and she strengthened the party.

    “For 10 years, we were in government, did she try to become PM or efforts made to make Rahul Gandhi PM. Her sacrifice for the party is very big. Rahul Gandhi is undertaking the Bharat Jodo Yatra not just for the party but is fighting against unemployment, to bring unity among people. So, when you get to learn something you must. I will consult them and other senior leaders, but that does not mean that I did not learn anything in 50 years,” he said.

    “I will consult the Gandhi family and will take good things from them and also implement and inculcate them,” he said.

    Dismissing suggestions that he is Gandhis’ candidate, Kharge said all senior leaders had come out in his support during the day of the nominations.

    Talking about Tharoor’s phone call to him after nominations, Kharge said he told him that it would be “better to have a consensus candidate to which he (Tharoor) said that there should be a fight in a democracy, and then I said ok”.

    “When a candidate decides to contest, how I can stop him. So, he is fighting and he is my younger brother. It is a family matter and we have to stay united today and tomorrow,” Kharge asserted.

    He also said he was not fighting the polls as a Dalit leader but as a Congress worker who has served the party for 55 years.

    Kharge and Tharoor were left in the fray in the Congress presidential poll after former Jharkhand minister K N Tripathi’s nomination was rejected on Saturday.

    The polling, if needed, 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.

    NEW DELHI: Nominee for the Congress president post Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said he told fellow contender Shashi Tharoor that it would be better to have a consensus candidate, but the Lok Sabha MP insisted on a contest for the “sake of democracy”.

    Kharge said if he becomes the party chief, he will consult the Gandhi family and other senior leaders and implement the good things suggested by them, even as he rejected claims that he was the “official candidate” backed by the Gandhis.

    Launching his Congress presidential poll campaign with a press conference at his residence here, 80-year-old Kharge said there is no G-23 camp now and all those leaders want to fight unitedly against the RSS-BJP and therefore are supporting him.

    Several dissident leaders such as Bhupinder Hooda, Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari and Prithviraj Chavan of the group of 23, which had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi in 2020 for large scale organisational reform, have put their weight behind Kharge by becoming his proposers instead of backing Tharoor who was a prominent member of the grouping.

    Kharge said all senior leaders and youth leaders urged him to contest the polls as no member of the Gandhi family — Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra — wanted to become the party chief.

    “All my colleagues told me to fight the party president poll and on their calling and encouragement, I got inspiration as they extended their cooperation because Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi do not want to become president,” he said.

    Kharge asserted that he had not entered the poll fray to oppose anyone but to strengthen the Congress through his views and to take forward the party ideology.

    He said that in line with ‘one person, one post’ principle of the party, he resigned as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha on the day he filed the nomination.

    Kharge elaborated on his political journey of struggles and successes, and asserted that working for a party is not a part-time job but a full-time work.

    “I have been working full-time. If I sat in Parliament then I would get up only in the evening at the time of shut down. It is my habit that whatever I take up, I work sincerely,” he said.

    Asked about Tharoor’s remarks that Kharge is a candidate of continuity and status quo, the Rajya Sabha MP said, “He (Tharoor) may have his views. The status quo and reforms he talks of will be decided by the 9,300-odd delegates, after that a committee will be formed (Congress Working Committee). The committee as a whole will decide all policy matters that will be formulated by consensus and we will implement that. It will not be done by one person. For me the key word is ‘Hum (We)’ instead of ‘main (Me). We will decide together and wherever there are shortcomings, we will take action,” he said.

    Kharge said senior leaders urged him to contest in view of the pressing issues facing the country such as high unemployment, rising inflation, widening gap between the rich and the poor and the BJP not fulfilling any of its promises.

    “Will always work to take forward party’s principles and ideology,” he said.

    Rejecting claims that he was the official candidate and the BJP’s criticism that the Gandhi family will wield real power, Kharge said the BJP always tries to undermine the Congress.

    “When did they (BJP) have elections, do they have an election authority? How many delegates they have? Who elected J P Nadda? Have their presidents been elected in polls.

    In the Congress, we have election authority, delegates, voting power, candidates in fray.

    Still they (BJP) are saying election is not happening, the Gandhi family is controlling,” he said.

    Kharge said the Gandhi family has sacrificed a lot for this country and pointed out that Sonia Gandhi did not even want to join politics and was persuaded on the pretext that the country needs her services and she strengthened the party.

    “For 10 years, we were in government, did she try to become PM or efforts made to make Rahul Gandhi PM. Her sacrifice for the party is very big. Rahul Gandhi is undertaking the Bharat Jodo Yatra not just for the party but is fighting against unemployment, to bring unity among people. So, when you get to learn something you must. I will consult them and other senior leaders, but that does not mean that I did not learn anything in 50 years,” he said.

    “I will consult the Gandhi family and will take good things from them and also implement and inculcate them,” he said.

    Dismissing suggestions that he is Gandhis’ candidate, Kharge said all senior leaders had come out in his support during the day of the nominations.

    Talking about Tharoor’s phone call to him after nominations, Kharge said he told him that it would be “better to have a consensus candidate to which he (Tharoor) said that there should be a fight in a democracy, and then I said ok”.

    “When a candidate decides to contest, how I can stop him. So, he is fighting and he is my younger brother. It is a family matter and we have to stay united today and tomorrow,” Kharge asserted.

    He also said he was not fighting the polls as a Dalit leader but as a Congress worker who has served the party for 55 years.

    Kharge and Tharoor were left in the fray in the Congress presidential poll after former Jharkhand minister K N Tripathi’s nomination was rejected on Saturday.

    The polling, if needed, 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.

  • Cong polls: Gehlot throws his weight behind Kharge, says Tharoor belongs to elite class 

    By PTI

    JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said veteran party leader Mallikarjun Kharge has the experience to strengthen the Congress and would emerge as a clear winner in the party presidential poll, while his rival in the race Shashi Tharoor belongs to the “elite class”.

    “Kharge has a long political experience. He has a clean heart, he comes from the Dalit community and (Kharge contesting election) is being welcomed everywhere,” he told reporters after paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at the secretariat here.

    Gehlot, one of the proposers of Kharge, said Tharoor is also a good man and has good thoughts but he is from the elite class.

    ALSO READ | Gehlot projects ‘All Is Well’ despite uncertainty over Rajasthan CM Post

    “Tharoor is a class apart; he is from elite class but the kind of experience which is needed to strengthen the party at booth, block and district levels, that is with Kharge and cannot be compared to Shashi Tharoor,” he said “Therefore, it will naturally be a one-sided contest for Kharge,” he said.

    Kharge and Tharoor are in a direct contest for the Congress president’s post. Kharge has emerged as the clear favourite for the Congress president’ post.

    Kharge has resigned as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, sources said on Saturday.

    Kharge’s resignation, which the 80-year-old leader sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday night, is in line with the party’s declared ‘One person, One post’ principle that was announced at the Udaipur ‘Chintan Shivir’ in May.

    The polling, if needed, 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 election.

    JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said veteran party leader Mallikarjun Kharge has the experience to strengthen the Congress and would emerge as a clear winner in the party presidential poll, while his rival in the race Shashi Tharoor belongs to the “elite class”.

    “Kharge has a long political experience. He has a clean heart, he comes from the Dalit community and (Kharge contesting election) is being welcomed everywhere,” he told reporters after paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at the secretariat here.

    Gehlot, one of the proposers of Kharge, said Tharoor is also a good man and has good thoughts but he is from the elite class.

    ALSO READ | Gehlot projects ‘All Is Well’ despite uncertainty over Rajasthan CM Post

    “Tharoor is a class apart; he is from elite class but the kind of experience which is needed to strengthen the party at booth, block and district levels, that is with Kharge and cannot be compared to Shashi Tharoor,” he said “Therefore, it will naturally be a one-sided contest for Kharge,” he said.

    Kharge and Tharoor are in a direct contest for the Congress president’s post. Kharge has emerged as the clear favourite for the Congress president’ post.

    Kharge has resigned as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, sources said on Saturday.

    Kharge’s resignation, which the 80-year-old leader sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday night, is in line with the party’s declared ‘One person, One post’ principle that was announced at the Udaipur ‘Chintan Shivir’ in May.

    The polling, if needed, 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 election.

  • Congress presidential poll: K N Tripathi’s nomination rejected, it’s Kharge vs Tharoor

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Former Jharkhand minister K N Tripathi’s nomination for the Congress presidential poll was rejected on Saturday, setting up a contest between party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor.

    The three had filed nominations on Friday, the last day of the process.

    Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters here, AICC Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said a total of 20 forms were received during the nomination process and four of them were rejected.

    While Kharge submitted 14 forms, Tharoor submitted five and Tripathi one.

    ALSO READ | Kharge, Tharoor, Tripathi file nominations for Congress Presidential poll

    Mistry said Tripathi’s form was rejected as the signature of one of his proposers did not match and another proposer’s signature was repeated.

    NEW DELHI: Former Jharkhand minister K N Tripathi’s nomination for the Congress presidential poll was rejected on Saturday, setting up a contest between party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor.

    The three had filed nominations on Friday, the last day of the process.

    Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters here, AICC Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said a total of 20 forms were received during the nomination process and four of them were rejected.

    While Kharge submitted 14 forms, Tharoor submitted five and Tripathi one.

    ALSO READ | Kharge, Tharoor, Tripathi file nominations for Congress Presidential poll

    Mistry said Tripathi’s form was rejected as the signature of one of his proposers did not match and another proposer’s signature was repeated.

  • Congress president election: Map blunder, typo take sheen off Tharoor’s manifesto

    By Express News Service

    THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Shashi Tharoor once again stood out with ‘Think Tomorrow, Think Tharoor’, his smartly-worked 13-page manifesto for the Congress presidential election though a blunder and a typo took the sheen off it. The booklet had a map of India without parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and the Thiruvananthapuram MP apologised “unconditionally” for the blunder.

    “No one does such things on purpose. A small team of volunteers made a mistake. We rectified it immediately & I apologise unconditionally for the error,” he tweeted. Earlier in 2019, in his tweet about participation in a rally at Kozhikode against Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens, Tharoor shared a ‘distorted’ map of India on Twitter. The northernmost territory of the country was missing from the map.

    A typo, “Think Tomorror, Think Tharoor’’ also cropped up in the manifesto.One key point he endorses is a two-year term for Congress president. He says the party chief should be accessible to all and he/she should regularly interact with party workers.

    Tharoor also calls for decentralisation so that the party delegates powers to the state, district and block-level leaders and empowers grass-root workers. He also has promised to implement the “one person, one post” ideology and to stand for the principles of secularism and an “energetic and confident foreign policy”.

    Tharoor said youths, among whom he has a huge fan following, should be given a chance. He added more leadership roles should be given to women. In the last three Lok Sabha elections, Tharoor’s campaign in Thiruvananthapuram was run by his own team, with external agencies performing the task instead of local party leadership. The Thiruvananthapuram district Congress leadership joined only towards the end, not involving too much.

    THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Shashi Tharoor once again stood out with ‘Think Tomorrow, Think Tharoor’, his smartly-worked 13-page manifesto for the Congress presidential election though a blunder and a typo took the sheen off it. The booklet had a map of India without parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and the Thiruvananthapuram MP apologised “unconditionally” for the blunder.

    “No one does such things on purpose. A small team of volunteers made a mistake. We rectified it immediately & I apologise unconditionally for the error,” he tweeted. Earlier in 2019, in his tweet about participation in a rally at Kozhikode against Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens, Tharoor shared a ‘distorted’ map of India on Twitter. The northernmost territory of the country was missing from the map.

    A typo, “Think Tomorror, Think Tharoor’’ also cropped up in the manifesto.One key point he endorses is a two-year term for Congress president. He says the party chief should be accessible to all and he/she should regularly interact with party workers.

    Tharoor also calls for decentralisation so that the party delegates powers to the state, district and block-level leaders and empowers grass-root workers. He also has promised to implement the “one person, one post” ideology and to stand for the principles of secularism and an “energetic and confident foreign policy”.

    Tharoor said youths, among whom he has a huge fan following, should be given a chance. He added more leadership roles should be given to women. In the last three Lok Sabha elections, Tharoor’s campaign in Thiruvananthapuram was run by his own team, with external agencies performing the task instead of local party leadership. The Thiruvananthapuram district Congress leadership joined only towards the end, not involving too much.

  • Congress chief polls | Shashi Tharoor: A man of words and many independent moves

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: By filing his nomination as Congress president on Friday, Shashi Tharoor has shown he is no ‘quockerwodger’ – a word he introduced into our lexicon – acting on the instructions of an influential third party.

    In fact, the bestseller author, wordsmith, former UN diplomat and social media ‘pioneer’ with 8.3 million followers has demonstrated he is quite the opposite of a ‘quockerwodger’, a politically loaded term for a wooden puppet, and is instead independent-minded, making moves on his own terms.

    As speculation over who would be in the race for the Congress president mounted and most of his party colleagues demurred, Tharoor was the first off the block to declare he would contest.

    The 66-year-old filed his nomination at the office of the Congress’ central election authority Madhusudan Mistry on Friday, the last day of the nomination process for the top post in the party long dominated by the Gandhi family.

    Tharoor, seen as a rebel and one of the group of 23 leaders who wrote to Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking large-scale reforms, now takes on veteran Mallikarjun Kharge, widely seen to be backed by senior leaders and tipped to win.

    The longer the Congress waits to get its act together, the greater the risk of a steady erosion of our traditional vote bank and their gravitation towards our political competitors.

    “Which is why I have long been an outspoken advocate for free and transparent elections within the party, including for the post of president,” the forthright former Union minister told PTI.

    Those who have followed Tharoor’s career path say two things — he is full of surprises and up for a fight without being deterred by the odds stacked against him.

    READ HERE | Congress should stand for change, not surprised establishment backing Kharge: Tharoor

    Born in London in 1956, Tharoor graduated with an honours in history from Delhi’s prestigious St Stephen’s College where he was also the president of the student’s union.

    He did his masters from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Medford, US, and completed a PhD from there in 1978.

    Defying the politician stereotype, Tharoor went on to have a distinguished career in the UN.

    During his stint at the UN, he shouldered several key responsibilities in peace-keeping after the Cold War and serving as senior adviser to the secretary-general, in addition to his role as under-secretary general for Communications and Public Information.

    Tharoor, who was chosen as India’s official candidate for the post of secretary general, finished second of seven candidates in the 2006 election, which was won by former South Korean diplomat and politician Ban Ki-moon.

    His stomach for a fight against daunting odds was perhaps first displayed in that electoral fight.

    Three years later, he retired as an international civil servant and made a lateral entry into politics in 2009 to be elected as MP from Thiruvananthapuram for the first time on a Congress ticket.

    Though his political journey began at 53, he took giant strides as a politician after winning the Lok Sabha election.

    His candidacy was opposed by a section of leaders of the Kerala Congress who viewed him as an outsider.

    Tharoor, however, won by a comfortable margin over his nearest opponent from the Communist Party of India.

    ALSO READ | Mallikarjun Kharge​, a Gandhi family loyalist poised to be second Congress chief from Karnataka

    He was appointed Union minister of state for External Affairs in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

    Tharoor is a pioneer in using social media as an instrument of political interaction.

    He was India’s most-followed politician on Twitter till 2013 when he was overtaken by current Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    The often outspoken politician, making headlines for his politics and sometimes also for throwing little-used words that have his Twitter followers reaching for the dictionary, finds himself at the centre of controversy every now and then.

    In 2009, for instance, in the early days of his political career, he made a comment about travelling ‘cattle class’ for which he had to apologise.

    He was also accused of having a questionable interest in a cricket team from the Kerala city of Kochi while he was a minister.

    He resigned from the MEA in April 2010.

    His personal life saw a tragic turn in January 2014 when his wife Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel here.

    The couple was staying in the hotel as Tharoor’s official bungalow of Tharoor was being renovated at the time.

    Tharoor was later charged under section 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code by Delhi Police.

    A Delhi court discharged him in the case last year.

    The year of his wife’s death was also when he won a second Lok Sabha term from Thiruvananthapuram, swimming against the tide of a massive Narendra Modi wave.

    However, his victory margin came down from a staggering 99,998 votes in 2009 to over 15,000.

    In 2019, he won the seat for a third time, defeating his main rival and BJP-NDA candidate Kummanam Rajashekharan by a margin of 99,989 votes.

    In July 2020, Tharoor crossed a milestone by becoming the longest-serving parliamentarian representing the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency.

    Tharoor broke the record of Congress’ A Charles, who represented the constituency for 4,047 days from 1984 to 1991.

    An active parliamentarian and amongst the best orators in the House, Tharoor has also been chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs and is currently Chair of the parliamentary panel on information and technology and communications.

    However, it has been reported that the government has decided to take the chair-ship of the panel from the Congress.

    Always known to speak his mind, the ‘G 23’ leader has reiterated time and again that his sole intention of being among the signatories to the letter to Sonia Gandhi was reform of the party.

    However, he has been treated by many in the party as a sort of a rebel with many Gandhi loyalists attacking him from time to time.

    Tharoor has been a prolific writer and authored about 23 books, including ‘The Great Indian Novel’, ‘An Era of Darkness’, ‘Why I Am A Hindu’ and ‘The Paradoxical Prime Minister’.

    He has also won several awards and bestowed with prestigious honours such as the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for the Best Book of the Year in the Eurasian Region for ‘The Great Indian Novel’, Spain’s Commander of the Order of Charles III by King of Spain, the Sahitya Akademi Award for his book ‘An Era of Darkness’ as well as France’s Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur.

    Tharoor’s hope in the polls is best summed up by the lines of Urdu poet Majrooh Sultanpuri which the MP had tweeted this week – “Main akela hi chala tha janib-e-manzil magar log saath aate gaye aur karvaan banta gaya (I began my journey alone, people joined in and the caravan kept on growing).”

    NEW DELHI: By filing his nomination as Congress president on Friday, Shashi Tharoor has shown he is no ‘quockerwodger’ – a word he introduced into our lexicon – acting on the instructions of an influential third party.

    In fact, the bestseller author, wordsmith, former UN diplomat and social media ‘pioneer’ with 8.3 million followers has demonstrated he is quite the opposite of a ‘quockerwodger’, a politically loaded term for a wooden puppet, and is instead independent-minded, making moves on his own terms.

    As speculation over who would be in the race for the Congress president mounted and most of his party colleagues demurred, Tharoor was the first off the block to declare he would contest.

    The 66-year-old filed his nomination at the office of the Congress’ central election authority Madhusudan Mistry on Friday, the last day of the nomination process for the top post in the party long dominated by the Gandhi family.

    Tharoor, seen as a rebel and one of the group of 23 leaders who wrote to Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking large-scale reforms, now takes on veteran Mallikarjun Kharge, widely seen to be backed by senior leaders and tipped to win.

    The longer the Congress waits to get its act together, the greater the risk of a steady erosion of our traditional vote bank and their gravitation towards our political competitors.

    “Which is why I have long been an outspoken advocate for free and transparent elections within the party, including for the post of president,” the forthright former Union minister told PTI.

    Those who have followed Tharoor’s career path say two things — he is full of surprises and up for a fight without being deterred by the odds stacked against him.

    READ HERE | Congress should stand for change, not surprised establishment backing Kharge: Tharoor

    Born in London in 1956, Tharoor graduated with an honours in history from Delhi’s prestigious St Stephen’s College where he was also the president of the student’s union.

    He did his masters from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Medford, US, and completed a PhD from there in 1978.

    Defying the politician stereotype, Tharoor went on to have a distinguished career in the UN.

    During his stint at the UN, he shouldered several key responsibilities in peace-keeping after the Cold War and serving as senior adviser to the secretary-general, in addition to his role as under-secretary general for Communications and Public Information.

    Tharoor, who was chosen as India’s official candidate for the post of secretary general, finished second of seven candidates in the 2006 election, which was won by former South Korean diplomat and politician Ban Ki-moon.

    His stomach for a fight against daunting odds was perhaps first displayed in that electoral fight.

    Three years later, he retired as an international civil servant and made a lateral entry into politics in 2009 to be elected as MP from Thiruvananthapuram for the first time on a Congress ticket.

    Though his political journey began at 53, he took giant strides as a politician after winning the Lok Sabha election.

    His candidacy was opposed by a section of leaders of the Kerala Congress who viewed him as an outsider.

    Tharoor, however, won by a comfortable margin over his nearest opponent from the Communist Party of India.

    ALSO READ | Mallikarjun Kharge​, a Gandhi family loyalist poised to be second Congress chief from Karnataka

    He was appointed Union minister of state for External Affairs in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

    Tharoor is a pioneer in using social media as an instrument of political interaction.

    He was India’s most-followed politician on Twitter till 2013 when he was overtaken by current Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    The often outspoken politician, making headlines for his politics and sometimes also for throwing little-used words that have his Twitter followers reaching for the dictionary, finds himself at the centre of controversy every now and then.

    In 2009, for instance, in the early days of his political career, he made a comment about travelling ‘cattle class’ for which he had to apologise.

    He was also accused of having a questionable interest in a cricket team from the Kerala city of Kochi while he was a minister.

    He resigned from the MEA in April 2010.

    His personal life saw a tragic turn in January 2014 when his wife Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel here.

    The couple was staying in the hotel as Tharoor’s official bungalow of Tharoor was being renovated at the time.

    Tharoor was later charged under section 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code by Delhi Police.

    A Delhi court discharged him in the case last year.

    The year of his wife’s death was also when he won a second Lok Sabha term from Thiruvananthapuram, swimming against the tide of a massive Narendra Modi wave.

    However, his victory margin came down from a staggering 99,998 votes in 2009 to over 15,000.

    In 2019, he won the seat for a third time, defeating his main rival and BJP-NDA candidate Kummanam Rajashekharan by a margin of 99,989 votes.

    In July 2020, Tharoor crossed a milestone by becoming the longest-serving parliamentarian representing the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency.

    Tharoor broke the record of Congress’ A Charles, who represented the constituency for 4,047 days from 1984 to 1991.

    An active parliamentarian and amongst the best orators in the House, Tharoor has also been chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs and is currently Chair of the parliamentary panel on information and technology and communications.

    However, it has been reported that the government has decided to take the chair-ship of the panel from the Congress.

    Always known to speak his mind, the ‘G 23’ leader has reiterated time and again that his sole intention of being among the signatories to the letter to Sonia Gandhi was reform of the party.

    However, he has been treated by many in the party as a sort of a rebel with many Gandhi loyalists attacking him from time to time.

    Tharoor has been a prolific writer and authored about 23 books, including ‘The Great Indian Novel’, ‘An Era of Darkness’, ‘Why I Am A Hindu’ and ‘The Paradoxical Prime Minister’.

    He has also won several awards and bestowed with prestigious honours such as the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for the Best Book of the Year in the Eurasian Region for ‘The Great Indian Novel’, Spain’s Commander of the Order of Charles III by King of Spain, the Sahitya Akademi Award for his book ‘An Era of Darkness’ as well as France’s Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur.

    Tharoor’s hope in the polls is best summed up by the lines of Urdu poet Majrooh Sultanpuri which the MP had tweeted this week – “Main akela hi chala tha janib-e-manzil magar log saath aate gaye aur karvaan banta gaya (I began my journey alone, people joined in and the caravan kept on growing).”

  • Shashi Tharoor files nomination for Congress president polls

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday filed his nomination for the post of Congress president at the party headquarters here.

    The Thiruvananthapuram MP submitted his papers to the party’s central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry at his office at the AICC headquarters.

    Amid the sound of drumbeats and fanfare, he made an entry at the AICC headquarters.

    #CongressPresidentElection | Senior Congress leader & MP Shashi Tharoor reaches the AICC office in Delhi to file his nomination for the post of #CongressPresident pic.twitter.com/cI5vMGogSJ
    — ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2022
    Tharoor visited Rajghat in the morning and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi ahead of filing his nomination papers for the party’s presidential poll. “Paid tribute to the man who built India’s bridge to the 21st century this morning,” Tharoor said in a tweet.

    He quoted former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi as saying, “India is an Old country but a young nation. I dream of India Strong, Independent, Self-Reliant and in the front rank of the nations of the world, in the service of mankind.” Polling will take place on October 17 and the result will be announced on October 19.

    NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday filed his nomination for the post of Congress president at the party headquarters here.

    The Thiruvananthapuram MP submitted his papers to the party’s central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry at his office at the AICC headquarters.

    Amid the sound of drumbeats and fanfare, he made an entry at the AICC headquarters.

    #CongressPresidentElection | Senior Congress leader & MP Shashi Tharoor reaches the AICC office in Delhi to file his nomination for the post of #CongressPresident pic.twitter.com/cI5vMGogSJ
    — ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2022
    Tharoor visited Rajghat in the morning and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi ahead of filing his nomination papers for the party’s presidential poll. “Paid tribute to the man who built India’s bridge to the 21st century this morning,” Tharoor said in a tweet.

    He quoted former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi as saying, “India is an Old country but a young nation. I dream of India Strong, Independent, Self-Reliant and in the front rank of the nations of the world, in the service of mankind.” Polling will take place on October 17 and the result will be announced on October 19.

  • Raj drama intensifies: Tharoor meets Rahul for nod as official pick for Congress president

    Express News Service

    T’PURAM/PALAKKAD: A day after the start of the political drama in Rajasthan that could result in Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot pulling out of the Congress presidential poll, focus has once again shifted to Shashi Tharoor. With Gehlot loyalists delivering a shock to the high command on Sunday by threatening to resign against its move to name Sachin Pilot as the CM’s successor, Tharoor, the Thiruvananthapuram MP, on Monday rushed to Pattambi in Palakkad to accompany Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra and sought his clearance to be the official candidate.

    Tharoor flew to Kochi and went to Pattambi by road. His impromptu trip caught even senior Congress leaders in the district by surprise. Before he joined Rahul for the padayatra, Tharoor told reporters that the Gandhi family had no objections to his candidature.

    “I spoke with Rahul Gandhi over the phone. All three members of the Gandhi family have extended their support. There have also been requests from several states for my candidature. So, I have decided to throw my hat in the ring. You will know who are backing me when I submit my nomination on September 30,” he said.

    Tharoor confirmed that he will submit his nomination papers on Friday, the last day, after collecting signatures of 10 Congress office-bearers from across the country. Saying he had elicited both support and opposition from Kerala, Tharoor termed it normal and a healthy sign in a democracy.

    ‘I feel more candidates should participate’

    On Gehlot’s candidature, Tharoor said, “As a candidate, one should be able to face an opponent with confidence. In my opinion, more candidates should participate. Unlike other parties, there is indeed internal democracy in Congress.”

    Party sources from New Delhi confirmed to TNIE that the trip was Tharoor’s final attempt to convince the Congress leadership about his intention to contest as the official candidate.“The high command is still not convinced that Tharoor is a serious candidate. He may share a close rapport with the Gandhi family, but that does not necessarily stand him in good stead. He is yet to attain the political stature of other senior leaders like Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mukul Wasnik and Sushil Kumar Shinde whose names are also doing the rounds for the Congress presidential election,” said a source.

    The election, if required, would be held on October 17 and the results will be declared on October 19.Meanwhile, Congress national general secretary (organization) K C Venugopal rushed from Pattambi to New Delhi after Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi summoned him to resolve the imbroglio created by Gehlot.

    T’PURAM/PALAKKAD: A day after the start of the political drama in Rajasthan that could result in Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot pulling out of the Congress presidential poll, focus has once again shifted to Shashi Tharoor. With Gehlot loyalists delivering a shock to the high command on Sunday by threatening to resign against its move to name Sachin Pilot as the CM’s successor, Tharoor, the Thiruvananthapuram MP, on Monday rushed to Pattambi in Palakkad to accompany Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra and sought his clearance to be the official candidate.

    Tharoor flew to Kochi and went to Pattambi by road. His impromptu trip caught even senior Congress leaders in the district by surprise. Before he joined Rahul for the padayatra, Tharoor told reporters that the Gandhi family had no objections to his candidature.

    “I spoke with Rahul Gandhi over the phone. All three members of the Gandhi family have extended their support. There have also been requests from several states for my candidature. So, I have decided to throw my hat in the ring. You will know who are backing me when I submit my nomination on September 30,” he said.

    Tharoor confirmed that he will submit his nomination papers on Friday, the last day, after collecting signatures of 10 Congress office-bearers from across the country. Saying he had elicited both support and opposition from Kerala, Tharoor termed it normal and a healthy sign in a democracy.

    ‘I feel more candidates should participate’

    On Gehlot’s candidature, Tharoor said, “As a candidate, one should be able to face an opponent with confidence. In my opinion, more candidates should participate. Unlike other parties, there is indeed internal democracy in Congress.”

    Party sources from New Delhi confirmed to TNIE that the trip was Tharoor’s final attempt to convince the Congress leadership about his intention to contest as the official candidate.“The high command is still not convinced that Tharoor is a serious candidate. He may share a close rapport with the Gandhi family, but that does not necessarily stand him in good stead. He is yet to attain the political stature of other senior leaders like Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mukul Wasnik and Sushil Kumar Shinde whose names are also doing the rounds for the Congress presidential election,” said a source.

    The election, if required, would be held on October 17 and the results will be declared on October 19.
    Meanwhile, Congress national general secretary (organization) K C Venugopal rushed from Pattambi to New Delhi after Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi summoned him to resolve the imbroglio created by Gehlot.

  • You will see the support I enjoy when I submit my nomination paper, says Shashi Tharoor

    By PTI

    PALAKKAD: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday claimed he has the support of party workers from across the country for his bid to fight the AICC president polls.

    Amid uncertainty over Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s candidature for the top party post, Tharoor also met Rahul Gandhi on the sidelines of Bharat Jodo Yatra at Pattambi in this north Kerala district.

    Tharoor said it was a courtesy call as Gandhi was in his home district. “You will see the support I enjoy when I submit my nomination paper. I will be in the fray if I get support from party workers from the majority of the states. So many people from different parts of the country have requested me to be in the fray,” Tharoor told reporters reacting to a query on his candidature for the Congress president’s post.

    Tharoor said he was interested in fighting the poll but the picture will be clearer only after September 30, the last date for submitting nomination papers.

    The Thiruvananthapuram MP, who has got the nomination form for the poll collected from the Congress headquarters last Saturday, said a candidate should fight the polls with confidence. “I have got the form. I am meeting people and talking to them”, he said.

    Asked whether he has the support of the Nehru-Gandhi family in fighting the polls, the Congress leader said he had discussed the matter with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka and “and all three have directly told me that they don’t have any issues”.

    He also claimed the support of party workers in Kerala in his bid to fight the polls. Tharoor had met Sonia Gandhi last Monday and expressed his intention to contest the poll. The Congress president conveyed she would stay “neutral” in the elections, according to sources.

    Sonia Gandhi had welcomed the idea of more people contesting the poll and dispelled the notion that there would be an “official candidate”.

    According to a notification issued by the party on Thursday, the process for filing nominations for the election will be held from September 24 to 30.

    The date for a scrutiny of the nomination papers is October 1, while the last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 8.

    The final list of candidates will be published at 5 pm on October 8. The polling, if needed, 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. The Congress last saw a contest for the party president’s post in November 2000.

    Jitendra Prasada had lost to Sonia Gandhi in 2000 and prior to that, Sitaram Kesri had defeated Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot in 1997.

    PALAKKAD: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday claimed he has the support of party workers from across the country for his bid to fight the AICC president polls.

    Amid uncertainty over Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s candidature for the top party post, Tharoor also met Rahul Gandhi on the sidelines of Bharat Jodo Yatra at Pattambi in this north Kerala district.

    Tharoor said it was a courtesy call as Gandhi was in his home district. “You will see the support I enjoy when I submit my nomination paper. I will be in the fray if I get support from party workers from the majority of the states. So many people from different parts of the country have requested me to be in the fray,” Tharoor told reporters reacting to a query on his candidature for the Congress president’s post.

    Tharoor said he was interested in fighting the poll but the picture will be clearer only after September 30, the last date for submitting nomination papers.

    The Thiruvananthapuram MP, who has got the nomination form for the poll collected from the Congress headquarters last Saturday, said a candidate should fight the polls with confidence. “I have got the form. I am meeting people and talking to them”, he said.

    Asked whether he has the support of the Nehru-Gandhi family in fighting the polls, the Congress leader said he had discussed the matter with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka and “and all three have directly told me that they don’t have any issues”.

    He also claimed the support of party workers in Kerala in his bid to fight the polls. Tharoor had met Sonia Gandhi last Monday and expressed his intention to contest the poll. The Congress president conveyed she would stay “neutral” in the elections, according to sources.

    Sonia Gandhi had welcomed the idea of more people contesting the poll and dispelled the notion that there would be an “official candidate”.

    According to a notification issued by the party on Thursday, the process for filing nominations for the election will be held from September 24 to 30.

    The date for a scrutiny of the nomination papers is October 1, while the last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 8.

    The final list of candidates will be published at 5 pm on October 8. The polling, if needed, 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. The Congress last saw a contest for the party president’s post in November 2000.

    Jitendra Prasada had lost to Sonia Gandhi in 2000 and prior to that, Sitaram Kesri had defeated Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot in 1997.