Upset with Rahul's 'Kochi snub', Tharoor skips key Congress meet on Kerala polls: Sources

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday skipped a key strategy meeting of the party for the upcoming Kerala polls as he is believed to be upset over Rahul Gandhi not properly acknowledging his presence at a recent event and repeated attempts by state leaders to “sideline” him.

Sources said that while a series of events had led to Tharoor’s disappointment with the treatment meted out to him, the tipping point was Gandhi not acknowledging him at the ‘Maha Panchayath’ held in Kochi on January 19 to felicitate the local body poll winners.

Gandhi acknowledged other senior leaders present on the stage and took their names but did not mention Tharoor, a four-time MP and one of the three Congress Working Committee (CWC) members from the state, who was also on the dais, the sources said.

Tharoor’s office said he had informed the party of his inability to attend the meeting due to his prior commitments at the Kerala Literature Festival in Kozhikode.

However, according to sources close to him, he is “very upset” at the treatment meted out to him by the party, especially after differences had been ironed out at the Wayanad meetings on the sidelines of the Lakshya 2026 leadership camp organised by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee to chalk out strategies for the upcoming state assembly elections.

After that conclave, Tharoor had said that he had never deviated from the party line.

There was no official reaction from the Congress on the issue.

A united call was given by the Kerala Congress leaders to take on the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the upcoming assembly polls from Wayanad. An understanding was believed to have reached that Tharoor would not contest but campaign in the polls throughout the state.

However, days later, the differences within the state unit have again emerged, with Tharoor seemingly not happy with the way he has been treated in Kochi recently.

Tharoor has also sent messages to key party functionaries, including party general secretaries K C Venugopal and Deepa Das Munshi, who is the AICC in-charge of Kerala, pointing out the “mistreatment” accorded to him.

Sources close to Tharoor said that he was told that only Rahul Gandhi would speak at the Kochi event. Tharoor was speaking at the event when Gandhi came to the stage and Tharoor was asked to wind up but six more speakers spoke in Gandhi’s presence.

Gandhi took the names of 12 leaders but omitted Tharoor, who was sitting in the same row wearing a red kurta, they said.

Tharoor’s statements and articles had invited sharp criticism from Congress leaders at the national and state levels in the recent past.

A row had erupted last year over his comments on the India-Pakistan conflict and the diplomatic outreach after the Pahalgam attack. His comments were at variance with the Congress’ stand and many party leaders took a swipe at him, questioning his intentions.

Tharoor has, however, maintained that there is no variance in stance on foreign policy and there must be bipartisanship.

Kharge on Friday chaired a key meeting of the party here with Kerala leaders to fine-tune the party strategy for the assembly polls.

Gandhi, Venugopal, Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sunny Joseph and Congress Legislature Party leader V D Satheesan, among others, attended the meeting at Kharge’s residence.