Congress MP Shashi Tharoor met party president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on Thursday, amid reports of an internal rift within the party.
The meeting took place at Kharge's office in the parliament.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP was reportedly upset over Gandhi not adequately acknowledging his presence at a recent event in Kochi, as well as over alleged repeated attempts by state party leaders to sideline him.
Last week, while speaking to reporters in Kozhikode, Tharoor acknowledged that he had some “issues” with the party, which he intended to take up with the leadership. He emphasised, however, that he had never violated the party’s stated positions in Parliament.
“Any internal differences should be discussed within the organisation and not through the media,” he said. “All I can say is that there are issues which I need to take up with my own party leadership and not in a public forum. I will be going to Delhi for Parliament and I will get an opportunity, I believe, to make my concerns very clear to the party leadership and get their viewpoint to have a proper conversation,” Tharoor added in comments to PTI Videos.
On Tuesday, the MP skipped another crucial party meeting in Delhi, citing a prior engagement at the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF), a move that fuelled speculation about differences with the party leadership.. Days earlier, he had also given a miss to a Kerala strategy meeting held in the national capital.
According to reports, during an event in Kochi on January 19, Rahul Gandhi acknowledged all senior leaders on the dais by name, except Shashi Tharoor, even though the MP was seated on the stage.
Asked about it, Tharoor declined to comment directly but said, “I have been in the Congress for the past 17 years. Let’s not go too far. As far as I am concerned, whatever has gone wrong needs to be addressed, and it will be addressed in an appropriate forum.”