Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday triggered speculations of a tiff with the High Command after he made his displeasure known for being mistreated at the Mahapanchayat held in Kochi. The event held to honour the Congress candidates who won the recent civic body elections was attended by senior leader Rahul Gandhi.
In his complaint to AICC general secretaries K C Venugopal and Deepa Das Munshi, Tharoor reportedly complained that Rahul Gandhi's behaviour on the Mahapanchayat stage was deliberately humiliating. During his address, Rahul Gandhi mentioned all the other leaders from Kerala by name but ignored Tharoor. He also overlooked Tharoor while greeting others on the stage. Tharoor's speech was also scheduled to conclude just as Rahul Gandhi arrived on stage.
Upset at the way he was treated, Tharoor had left the Mahapanchayat venue in Ernakulam before the event concluded. The visuals of the incident have since been widely discussed on social media.
Not just Tharoor, local media also aired visuals that purportedly showed Rahul Gandhi urging former KPCC President K. Sudhakaran to move from an adjacent chair. Reports also emerged that the Leader of the Opposition, V D Satheesan, was not allowed into the car.
It is in this context that Tharoor decided to stay away from tomorrow's discussion in Delhi as a means to express strong dissatisfaction with Rahul Gandhi's behaviour. The Delhi meeting, scheduled for Saturday evening, is being held to assess the situation in Kerala. The event, convened by Rahul Gandhi, will cover election strategy and candidate selection. Besides V.D. Satheesan, KPCC President Sunny Joseph will participate in the talks. Tharoor instead opted to attend the Kozhikode Literature Festival (KLF).
On Tharoor skipping the Kerala poll meeting, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said all strong and senior leaders from Kerala are attending. "Those who are relevant to the Congress are coming. It doesn’t make a difference if leaders who are not major figures or relevant to the party are absent," Dikshit told reporters.
