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‘Disappointment is irrelevant’: Tharoor on being excluded from Cong star list
The Congress’ list of star campaigners for the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections include party president Malliakrjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi among others
The Congress has announced the star campaigners for the Gujarat assembly elections scheduled for next months with the list including party president Malliakrjun Kharge, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi among others.
The other star campaigners on the list include Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, his Chattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel, member of Parliament (MP) from Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot and Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani.
Kanhaiya Kumar, the firebrand former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student union president who joined the Congress last year, has also been included in the list.
On November 11, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its list of star campaigners, which included Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president JP Nadda.
A conspicuous absence from the list is Congress leader and Kerala MP, Shashi Tharoor, who contested against Kharge in the Congress presidential polls in October. Relations between Tharoor and the grand old party have been frayed since he levelled charges of malpractice in the Congress presidential polls.
“I am sure the Congress Party knows who or what might be effective in their campaigns. So disappointment is irrelevant. I was asked by the National Student Union of India (NSUI) to address a campaign event for them but had to decline since I am not on the list,” Tharoor told HT.
G-23, the splinter group of the Congress comprising leaders such as Prithviraj Chavan, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and Manish Tewari, rallied behind newly elected Congress President Mallikaarjun Kharge after Tharoor’s defeat in the party’s presidential polls.
“I am not aware of this exclusion of Mr. Tharoor from the star campaigners list. I don’t have an answer as of now and will have to get an understanding of the situation,” Rohan Gupta, Congress national spokesperson, told HT.
A senior leader, on condition of anonymity, told HT that leaders who have a local flavour and connect with Gujarat, have been chosen as star campaigners. Incidentally, another leader from Kerala, Ramesh Chennithala has been included as he is also heading the screening committee for choosing candidates in the state.
The 182- seat Gujarat assembly will go to elections in two phases on December 1 and 5. The results will be declared along with that of the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections on December 8. Earlier this month, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) released its list of star campaigners, which included Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart, Bhagwant Mann. The AAP’s chief ministerial face for the Gujarat polls, Isudan Gadhvi and the party’s Gujarat president, Gopal Italia, were also included in the party’s star campaigners list.
Former cricketer and Rajya Sabha member, Harbhajan Singh and his parliament colleague Raghav Chadha are also among the star campaigners from the AAP who will campaign in Gujarat.
