Cong unit distances itself from Tharoor delegation row
Kochi: Amid the controversy over the Centre choosing
for international delegations formed to explain India's position on
, opposition leader VD Satheeshan said on Sunday that the opinion of the party's national leadership will also be the opinion of the state leadership in this matter.
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Satheeshan told the media that the party's national leadership should speak about Tharoor. He said Tharoor is a CWC member and it is not the state unit's place to comment on him. He added that the Congress does not work in a way where the state controls the national party.
Senior Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan asked Tharoor to focus on his main duty as a Congress MP. He said Tharoor could take up international roles only with the Congress leadership's permission.
Speaking to a TV channel, he said Tharoor had two roles—one as an international figure with his own views and the other as a Congress MP.
He said Tharoor should act with the party's knowledge and approval. Tharoor can work in the international arena, but it should not weaken the party he represents. He added that Tharoor is not a leader of small stature.
Meanwhile,
's ally
said the Congress has already accepted Tharoor's inclusion in the delegation and called it an internal matter.
IUML state chief Sadikali Shihab Thangal said there was no need to bring politics into it. He said it was India's stand and all parties in the country should support it, which they are doing.
IUML national general secretary PK Kunhalikutty said the delegation was sent to explain the reasons behind India's strike against terrorism after Pahalgam attack and there is no need for any controversy.
Meanwhile, responding to former KPCC chief K Sudhakaran's remarks about the selection of a new president, Satheeshan said Sudhakaran was not unhappy.
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He said the media keeps asking Sudhakaran questions every day and should stop following only the Congress. "You still haven't answered how many years Rajeev Chandrasekhar was in the BJP. Have you checked how he became an MP twice? He says he is a Malayali, but has he ever worked as a booth president here? Has he served on any committee before? What did he do for Kerala in his five years as a central minister? The media won't talk about that," he said.
He claimed the media is trying to belittle the appointment of someone with over 50 years of political experience as KPCC chief. "Congress will stay strong. You said it would explode like a bomb, but nothing happened," he added.
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