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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Congress in Kerala on Saturday he acted cautiously to contain ripples created in state party unity following controversial statements by a senior party leader against Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor with a section behind the latter.
Tharoor, who was attacked by the working party chairman Kodikkunnil Suresh on Friday for joining the “group of 23” who wrote to Sonia Gandhi seeking an urgent organizational review, he received unprecedented support from a significant section in the party’s state unit with senior MLAs and MPs expressing their disgust for the comments.
Suresh, who is also the head of Congress in the Lok Sabha, had called Tharoor a “guest artist” and asked him to follow party policies.
UDF convener Benny Behanan, who is also a member of the party’s Lok Sabha, expressed his displeasure at the personal attack on Tharoor on Saturday, even as Suresh expressed regret over his comments.
“Tharoor is not the party’s opponent. Congress must fight together against the BJP in the Center and the CPI (M) in the state,” Behanan told reporters.
As more and more leaders began to demonstrate openly in support of Tharoor, the Kerala Pradesh Congressional Committee President Mullapally Ramachandran issued a statement asking them not to make public statements on organizational matters.
Supporting Tharoor, the high-level MLA PT Thomas party on Friday criticized the move to weaken Tharoor.
KPCC Vice President VD Satheesan had said “Tharoor is not our enemy. The CPM and BJP are our enemies.”
The party’s young faces, including T Siddique and KS Sabarinathan, also supported Tharoor.
Expressing regret for his comments against Tharoor, Suresh said on Saturday that he did not intend to cause any personal harm to the Thiruvananthapuram MP.
However, he said his disagreement with Tharoor still persists on the issue.
Tharoor has not reacted to the new controversy surrounding him in the state unit of Congress.
After the CWC meeting, Tharoor had said that it was everyone’s duty to work together in the interests of Congress once the party chief had declared the matter “behind us.”
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