Not exploring other political options: Tharoor

Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, who recently sparked controversy by praising both Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit and Kerala’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), clarified on Thursday that he was not “exploring other political options”.

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His clarification came a day before the Congress top leadership, including Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, is set to meet party leaders from Kerala to assess preparations for next year’s Assembly elections in the state.

A similar meeting was held today at the party headquarters, where Kharge, Rahul and other central leaders met Assam Congress leaders to discuss their electoral strategy for the state, which also goes to the polls next year. All three Congress Lok Sabha MPs from Assam — Gaurav Gogoi, Pradyut Bordoloi and Rakibul Hussain — attended, along with the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) chiefs.

Taking to X, Tharoor stated that his “innocuous remark” (originally made in Malayalam) about having multiple options to spend his time on literary pursuits was misrepresented in English as him “exploring other political options”.

“As usual, the rest of the media reacted to the headline, and the political class reacted to the media — leaving me to deal with the mess!” Tharoor wrote, adding, “The expression #BreakingNews has multiple meanings after all…”

The fourth-term Congress MP also alleged that a newspaper falsely claimed he had criticised the absence of strong leadership in the Kerala Congress unit. The report led to a front-page story in a reputed English daily, fuelling three days of debates on Malayalam television channels.

“When I challenged this claim, I was shown an English ‘translation’ of my Malayalam interview in which I had allegedly made the statement. I insisted on seeing the video clip, and was told I’d have to wait until Wednesday. When the video finally emerged, it was clear I had said no such thing. A correction has now been issued — but only after the damage was done,” he said.

Tharoor had unsuccessfully contested against Kharge, the Gandhi family-backed candidate, in the Congress presidential elections. This is believed to have strained his ties with the Gandhis, who continue to wield influence in the party.

Though he has been made a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), speculation persists that he remains under scrutiny by the party’s top leadership.