Senior Kerala Congress leader K Muraleedharan on Monday launched a scathing attack on Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, declaring that state unit leaders will not cooperate with him in the upcoming local body elections following the latter’s criticism of former PM Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi.
Muraleedharan, while speaking to a news agency in Thiruvananthapuram, said that the high command will take the final decision on Tharoor’s future in the Congress party but the state unit has decided not to cooperate with him.
He accused Tharoor of always opposing Rahul Gandhi’s statements and attacking Indira Gandhi.
“The final authority will be the Congress high command, which will decide whether to take action against him or allow him to remain in the party. We are not ready to cooperate with him in Kerala because he always keeps attacking the Congress and Indira Gandhi,” Muraleedharan said.
He continued: “In the last one year, PM Modi did not say a single word about Sanjay Gandhi, but he(Tharoor) accused Sanjay Gandhi. He always opposes Rahul Gandhi’s statement.
Muraleedharan also expressed disappointment over Tharoor’s performance in Kerala and claimed that he was no longer visiting his parliamentary constituency.
“We are upset with his performance in Kerala. He is no longer coming to his parliamentary constituency. We have decided that we will not cooperate with him in the upcoming local body elections. We will follow the instructions given by the high command,” he added.
In an article published in a Malayalam daily on Emergency, Tharoor had accused Indira Gandhi’s son Sanjay Gandhi of carrying out forced vasectomy campaigns and using “coercion and violence” to meet arbitrary targets.
In the article, Tharoor explicitly mentioned the ‘forced vasectomy campaigns led by Gandhi’s son, Sanjay, and concentrated in poorer and rural areas, where coercion and violence were used to meet arbitrary targets.’
He further highlighted the ‘slum demolitions, carried out with ruthless efficiency in urban centers like New Delhi, rendered thousands homeless, with little to no concern for their welfare.’
The Congress MP, who was part of the government’s delegation on Operation Sindoor, has admitted his differences with the party leadership. While the central leadership of the Congress has not openly spoken against Tharoor, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, when asked about an article by Tharoor praising PM Modi, had said that for some, Modi comes first and the country later.
“For our party, the country comes first, but for some others, Modi comes first and the country later,” Kharge said at a press conference last month when asked about Tharoor’s article.