Picture : Twitter/ ANI
Senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has said the reports about the possibility of him contesting for the party president’s post were ‘only speculation,’ but said he would be able to clearly say about his candidature only after the election notification is announced.
“people are free to speculate as they like. All I’ve written in my article is that elections are a good thing for the party… Beyond that, I have not made any announcement ” said Tharoor to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram. He also said an election to the top party post “is good for the party”.
He said if an election is held to the Congress president’s post, that will help gather the attention of the people and the party’s style of functioning, ideology, values and its outlook for the country will again be discussed.
“So let many candidates come forward and participate in the election in the democratically functioning party. That is good for the party,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP said responding to queries.
Though Tharoor declined to comment on whether he would throw his hat into the ring, he has written an article for the Malayalam daily ‘Mathrubhumi’ calling for a “free and fair” election.
In the article, he has said ideally the party should have announced elections also for the dozen seats on the Congress Working Committee (CWC) itself which are supposed to be elected.
“Allowing members of the party drawn from the AICC and PCC delegates to determine who will lead the party from these key positions, would have helped legitimize the incoming set of leaders and give them a credible mandate to lead the party,” said Mr Tharoor, who was among the group of 23 leaders who wrote to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking organisational reforms.
“Still, electing a fresh president is a start towards the revitalisation the Congress badly needs,” the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.
While the party as a whole is in need of renewal, the most urgent leadership position that needs to be filled is naturally that of the Congress president, Tharoor said.
Given the current state of the party, the perception of crisis and the national picture, whoever assumes the mantle of president will undoubtedly need to achieve the twin goals of energising the Congress party workers and inspiring the voters.
“He or she should have a plan to fix what ails the party, as well as a vision for India. After all, a political party is an instrument to serve the country, not an end in itself,” he said.
“Either way, a free and fair election process would be a healthy way to go about settling the issue. It would legitimise the mandate being offered to the incoming president,” he said.
“The exit of valued colleagues does not help. I personally regret these departures, because I would have wanted these friends to stay in the party and continue to fight to reform it,” he said.
“As a signatory of the so-called ‘G-23’ letter, I should say that it reflected concerns building up over many months among party members and well-wishers who wanted a re-energised Congress. These concerns were about the party’s functioning not its ideology or values. Our only intention was to strengthen and revive the party, not to divide or weaken it,” Tharoor wrote.
On his plans to venture into state politics and asked by ANI , Shashi Tharoor said, “All options are open. I’m a Lok Sabha MP. My focus in politics has been national and international so far. If one day vistas open up, one doesn’t want to say no.”
