Shashi Tharoor skips the CM race, delivers a verdict on LDF: ‘Kerala has really hit rock bottom’

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday ruled out being in contention for the Chief Minister’s post in the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections, saying he was not even contesting the polls.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Tharoor said the question of a CM face was not for any individual to weigh in on.

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“I genuinely think that in these matters, the matter is not for any individual to express any views. The system is that the high command will consult the elected MLAs and make a decision. The elected MLAs ideally should provide somebody from within themselves, and that would probably be the way to go,” he said.

On seat projections, Tharoor said the UDF would win between 72 and 75 seats; just clearing the majority mark of 71 in the 140-seat assembly. He, however, acknowledged party colleagues on the ground were projecting 85 to 100.

Tharoor mounted a sharp attack on the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front, accusing it of 10 years of misgovernance and claiming strong anti-incumbency sentiment against the ruling alliance. He said Kerala, once held up as a development model, had been reduced to a debt trap.

“LDF has represented 10 years of misgovernance, and there is a strong anti-incumbency against them, and we represent the most credible alternative for change, whereas the NDA is not seen in Kerala, certainly not yet, as a viable alternative government. I believe very seriously that Kerala has really hit rock bottom in recent years. We are a state that used to be called a model state, the Kerala model. Now the Kerala model has become a debt model. We are immersed in debt,” the Congress leader said.

He further said, “Our state government runs out of money even to pay salaries by September. They’re borrowing money. They are paying more money on debt servicing, that is, paying interest on loans and on pensions and salaries, than they’re paying on development projects. Young people are leaving the state in large numbers because there are no job opportunities.”

He further alleged that the LDF had systematically funnelled government contracts, including for cultural programmes and official events, to contractors linked to the CPI(M).

Shashi Tharoor on BJP

On the BJP, he was dismissive, describing the party as “pretty much non-existent” in the state and saying it would not be in a position to play kingmaker even if it managed to win one or two seats.

“The BJP currently is a zero-seat party in the assembly. Now, they might have an opportunity to get to one or two or three, and if they do, they’ll declare a great victory and be happy. But they’re not going to be large enough to be a kingmaker in the assembly. Parliamentary elections are a different story, because people are voting for the national government, and their opinions tend to be divided more between UPA and NDA, whereas in the assembly it is mainly between UDF and LDF.”

Tharoor also expressed surprise at the Election Commission’s decision to schedule polling on April 9, leaving parties with barely three weeks to campaign from the date of announcement on March 17. He noted that the constitutional deadline allowed elections to be held as late as May 8.

“We have been given a very short window by the Election Commission. I was a bit shocked because under the constitution, the new assembly has to sit in Kerala by May 23, which means the election could have been any time up to about May 8. They have, to everyone’s surprise, announced it for April 9, which means that from the day of the announcement, which was March 17, we have barely a little over three weeks. So everything is being telescoped.”

“I am surprised that the election commission has done that. Obviously, there are some people suggesting that this is meant to benefit incumbents in those states that are going to the polls on the 9th, which are Assam, where the BJP is the incumbent, Puducherry, where the BJP ally is incumbent, and Kerala, where a Congress opponent is the incumbent, the CPM, the left front. But be that as it may, I’m not going to ascribe motives to anybody,” added the Congress leader.

He said he would fly to Kerala on Friday and begin campaign work directly from the airport.

Kerala votes on April 9 in a single phase. Counting will take place on May 4. Congress released its second list of 37 candidates on Thursday, a day after putting out its first list of 55 names that included Kerala Congress Committee president Sunny Joseph from Peravoor and Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan from Paravur.

In the 2021 elections, the LDF won 99 seats – the first time since 1977 that a ruling alliance in Kerala secured back-to-back terms. The UDF won 41 seats, while the NDA lost its only assembly seat.