Shashi Tharoor ‘not one of us’, will stay off party events: Congress leader K Muraleedharan

Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor

Senior Congress leader K. Muraleedharan on Sunday criticised his party colleague Shashi Tharoor, stating that Tharoor will not be invited to any party programmes in Thiruvananthapuram unless he reconsiders his position on the national security issue.

“Tharoor is no longer considered as one of us,” said Muraleedharan, adding that the party’s national leadership would decide on any necessary disciplinary action. Tharoor, who is a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), has come under fire from within the party following his recent comments.

"Till he (Tharoor) changes his stance, we will not invite him to any party programme held in Thiruvananthapuram. He is not with us, so there is no question of him boycotting an event,” Muraleedharan said as reported by news agency PTI.

He was responding to reporters' queries seeking his view on Tharoor sticking to his stance on the issue of national security.His response also comes a day after Tharoor had said that nation comes first and parties are the means of making the country better.

The Congress MP had also said that a lot of people have been very critical of him because of his stand supporting the armed forces and the central government in connection with what happened recently in the country and its borders.”But I will stand my ground, because I believe this is the right thing for the country,” he had said at an event in Kochi on Saturday.Tharoor had also said that when people like him call for cooperating with other parties in the interests of national security, their own parties feel that it’s disloyal to them and that becomes a big problem.Muraleedharn had earlier hit out at Tharoor over sharing of a survey suggesting he is UDF’s most preferred choice for Chief Minister, saying ”he should first decide which party he belongs to”.

Muraleedharan had taken the swipe at the Thiruvananthapuram MP amid a widening rift between Tharoor and the party’s central leadership over his reactions following the Pahalgam terror attack, which have drawn sharp criticism within the Congress, with some of his comments seen as putting the party on the defensive.The senior Congress leader had also attacked Tharoor following his article criticising Indira Gandhi over the Emergency appearing in a Malayalam daily.Muraleedharan had urged the CWC member to choose a clear political path if he felt constrained within the Congress.