Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is facing immense criticism from the Kerala unit of the party over his controversial article criticising the 1975 Emergency and for directly targeting then PM Indira Gandhi.
Launching a scathing attack on the Thiruvananthapuram MP, senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan urged Tharoor to choose a clear political path "if he feels constrained within the Congress". If there are differences of opinion, there is space within the party to voice them. But if he feels that he is unable to continue in the present set-up, then he should step down from the posts entrusted to him and pursue a political path of his choice, news agency PTI quoted him as saying.
Muraleedharan's remark comes after Tharoor's article criticising Indira Gandhi over the Emergency era appeared in a Malayalam daily. Shashi Tharoor has slammed the Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi in 1975 as a "dark chapter" in India's history and. In an article published in the Malayalam daily 'Deepika' on Thursday, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) member also mentioned Indira Gandhi's son Sanjay Gandhi's notorious acts, including forced sterilisation campaigns and the merciless demolition of slums in New Delhi.
"There are two paths before him," Muraleedharan said, referring to Tharoor's current dual role in Parliament and the party structure.
Noting that Tharoor is a member of the Working Committee and the chairman of a Standing Committee appointed by the party, the senior leader said he should focus on moving forward by concentrating on both his parliamentary responsibilities and party work.
"On matters where he has differing opinions, he can express them within the party framework," the Kerala Congress leader said.
"But if he feels suffocated in the current situation, to the extent that he can no longer continue, then he should relinquish the positions entrusted to him by the party and choose a political path of his liking," he added.
Stressing that choosing a path outside the two available options would affect Tharoor's own political identity, Muraleedharan warned that such a direction would be a loss for both the party and Tharoor himself.
"If he proceeds on a path that is neither of the two mentioned, it becomes a matter that affects his personal identity. That would be a loss for both the party and for him. So, as a fellow colleague, what I want to say to him is that he must choose one of the two paths," he said.
-With agency inputs
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