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Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 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.
