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Shashi Tharoor visits Lucknow on Congress presidential poll eve, Pramod Tiwari objects to his ‘observations’
Pramod Tiwari says Shashi Tharoor should withdraw such comments about revival of the party since the Congress is not dead
A day before the Congress presidential poll, senior party leader and candidate Shashi Tharoor undertook a brief visit to Lucknow to mobilise support in his favour in Uttar Pradesh but ran into objections from a senior leader over his supposed utterances.
Rajya Sabha member Pramod Tiwari, who is among the proposers of the other candidate Mallikarjun Kharge, raised serious objections to some of Tharoor’s observations that he may have made during the course of campaigning in the state capital.
“The election to the post of Congress president is being contested in a friendly atmosphere. I have been listening to Tharoor’s statement/appeal and this has made me upset. Shashi Tharoorji Congress punarjivit karne ki baat kar rahe hain (Shashi Tharoor is talking about revival of the Congress). Is the Congress dead? Sonia Gandhi is party president while Rahul Gandhi is its former president. Tharoor should withdraw such comments that he may have made unknowingly due to his lack of knowledge about use of Hindi,” Pramod Tiwari said to the media.
“We are not sure whether Tharoor used this word at the UPCC (Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee) headquarters on Sunday. He may have done so at some other place in or out of Lucknow during the course of campaigning,” said a party leader on condition of anonymity. Shashi Tharoor was not available for comment.
UPCC has 1247 delegates who are allowed to vote (from UP) in the poll. Pramod Tiwari said 98% of delegates will vote for Kharge.
That a large section of delegates may support Kharge became evident when only a few of them turned up at the UPCC headquarters to welcome Shashi Tharoor, a three-term MP, there.
Shashi Tharoor had walked a short distance to UPCC headquarters from a function organised nearby for the launch and discussion on his book “Asmita Ka Sangharsh” here on Sunday.
Tharoor met party activists at the UPCC headquarters and spoke to media about his candidature and ‘10-point Tenets’, promising to bring about a change in the Congress. He said he was not against anybody. “I am in election with Kharge and not against Kharge. Either I win or Kharge wins. The Congress should win the poll,” Tharoor said to media.
Tharoor said 90% of top party leaders went along with Kharge when the latter filed his nomination papers.
Stating that he represented the voice of workers, Shashi Tharoor said he decided to contest after meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi, senior party leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
About his meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Tharoor said she told him there was no official candidate and he was free to contest. He said some of the party leaders were trying to create an impression that Gandhi family was supporting someone though this was not so. Various promises that Tharoor has made include decentralisation in party, increased focus on youth and implementation of the Udaipur declaration.
