PM's Clean India invite was non-political: MP
Kerala's Congress on Monday witnessed an explosion over the "pro-BJP" statements party MP Shashi Tharoor had been allegedly making as he had done recently with his positive response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation to him to join the Swachchh Bharat mission with almost the entire PCC leadership asking him to put an end to the habit.
Indicating that the Kerala party might recommend action against Tharoor for his positive response to Modi's call, State Congress president VM Sudheeran said that he had received several complaints against the MP from party workers. He said that a decision would be taken in the matter in consultation with senior leaders like Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
Former State Congress chief and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala termed Tharoor's stand as highly condemnable. "The party is viewing the matter very seriously," he said. K Muraleedharan MlA, another former PCC chief, said that it was up to the high command to decide whether Tharoor had crossed the limits.
"The Kerala PCC is hereby expressing its unhappiness over Tharoor's pro-BJP stand as seen in his response to Modi's invitation," said State Congress vice-president MM Hassan while top Youth Congress leader M liju said, "It is up to Tharoor to decide whether he should continue to be in the Congress. But he cannot go on adopting such pro-Modi positions."
Interestingly, Tharoor did not even try to pacify the State party leaders with any kind of apology. "Being receptive to specific statements or actions of BJP leaders does not imply acceptance of the party's core Hindutwa agenda. The PM pitched his appeal as a non-political one and I received it in that spirit," Tharoor wrote on his Facebook page.
Modi had invited nine leading personalities including Tharoor, actors Priyanka Chopra and Kamal Haasan and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar to join the Swachchh Bharat mission. Tharoor responded positively to it by tweeting, "(I am) Honoured to accept the invitation of PM@narendramodi to join Clean India campaign… Clean India is 4 all."
"Tharoor seems to have fallen into a trap set by Modi. That should not have happened," Sudheeran said at Vadakara in Kozhikode district. The high command had made him the Congress candidate in Thiruvananthapuram and he became an MP because of the tireless work of partymen, Sudheeran said. "Tharoor should not forget that," he added.
Hassan and liju alleged that this was not the first time Tharoor had praised Modi. "This has been happening for quite some time now. As a first step, Tharoor should end the habit of adopting such a position," Hassan said, adding that he would discuss with Sudheeran about the possibility of taking disciplinary action against the MP.
"It is surprising that a Congress leader like Tharoor could not show the caution shown by Kamal Haasan, an actor, to Modi's invitation. Kamal had said that cleanliness drive was not a mere PR exercise. Tharoor should end the habit of praising the Prime Minister who, despite his feigned love for Gandhiji, does not even pronounce his name correctly," Hassan said.
According to observers, the response of Congress leaders indicated that they are fed up with Tharoor's habit of adopting postures which embarrassed the party. "The leaders in Kerala are slowly realizing that Tharoor may not be an asset but a liability to the party," said a Senior Editor of a pro-Congress Malayalam newspaper.
Senior CPI(M) leader Anathalavattom Anandan said Tharoor's pro-Modi statements could not be seen as accidental. "He is living amidst a lot of difficulties. Just the other day Subramanian Swamy had demanded intensification of probe into the mysterious death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. It is quite possible that he has opinions different from those of the Congress," he said.