Shashi Tharoor’s Word-Flexing: ‘Will See Support I Enjoy When I Submit Nomination

Amidst uncertainty over the fate of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot due to the show of indiscipline prior to scheduledthe meeting of Congress Legislature Party in presence of high command, another contestant for the Presidential election Shashi Tharoor is all smiles.

The Kerala MP on Monday claimed he has the support of party workers from across the country for his bid to fight the AICC president polls. Tharoor also met Rahul Gandhi on the sidelines of Bharat Jodo Yatra at Pattambi in this north Kerala district. He however, said it was a courtesy call as Gandhi was in his home district.

"You will see the support I enjoy when I submit my nomination paper. I will be in the fray if I get support from party workers from the majority of the states. So many people from different parts of the country have requested me to be in the fray," Tharoor told reporters on being asked regarding his candidature.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP, who has got the nomination form for the poll collected from the Congress headquarters last Saturday, said a candidate should fight the polls with confidence. "I have got the form. I am meeting people and talking to them", he said.

Asked whether he has the support of the Nehru-Gandhi family in fighting the polls, the Congress leader said he had discussed the matter with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka and "and all three have directly told me that they don't have any issues". He also claimed the support of party workers in Kerala in his bid to fight the polls.

Tharoor’s comments and assertion of support came at a crucial time when Gehlot is inviting the wrath of high command in his home turf for indiscipline behaviour of his loyalists. Interestingly, just days after Tharoor expressed his intent to fight the elections and met the party supremo Sonia Gandhi, backlash started coming from within the party.

One of the spokespersons of the Congress Gourav Vallabh tweeted that the only contribution of Tharoor to the party was the letters he wrote to Sonia Gandhi when she was in hospital. AICC general secretary-in-charge Jairam Ramesh though warned all the party members against mudslinging, the injury was deep enough to have its impact

Tharoor had met Sonia Gandhi last Monday and expressed his intention to contest the poll. The Congress president conveyed she would stay "neutral" in the elections, according to sources.

Sonia Gandhi had welcomed the idea of more people contesting the poll and dispelled the notion that there would be an "official candidate". According to a notification issued by the party on Thursday, the process for filing nominations for the election will be held from September 24 to 30.

(With PTI Inputs)