Congress leader K Muraleedharan launched a scathing attack on his colleague Shashi Tharoor on Thursday, saying “he should first decide which party he belongs to”. He said the Thiruvananthapuram MP should step down from his posts “if he feels that he is unable to continue in the present set-up.”
Shashi Tharoor is being criticised by many of his party leaders for two reasons: First, for criticising former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s ‘Emergency’, and second, for endorsing himself for the Kerala chief minister’s post.
Muraleedharan’s comments came as Tharoor shared a survey on X that revealed him as the top choice for the Chief Minister’s post in Kerala — where elections are due next year.
“Even if someone else is leading in the survey, if the UDF comes to power in the 2026 Assembly polls, the chief minister will be from the UDF,” Muraleedharan was quoted by news agency PTI as saying, while reacting to a query on Tharoor’s post on X.
Muraleedharan said that there were several senior leaders in the Kerala unit of the Congress who would be in consideration for the post of CM, irrespective of what any survey says.
He said that the party has a framework of rules according to which a decision would be taken as to who would be the next CM.
Tharoor ‘should step down if…’
Muraleedharan further hit out at Tharoor over his article in a Malayalam daily that criticised ‘Emergency’. Reacting to Tharoor’s article, K Muraleedharan urged him to choose a clear political path if he feels constrained within the Congress.
“If there are differences of opinion, there is space within the party to voice them. But if he feels that he is unable to continue in the present set-up, then he should step down from the posts entrusted to him and pursue a political path of his choice,” Muraleedharan told reporters.
Two paths for Tharoor
Muraleedharan said there are two paths before Tharoor, while referring to the Congress MP’s current dual role in Parliament and the party structure.
Noting that Tharoor is a member of the Working Committee and the chairman of a Standing Committee appointed by the party, Muraleedharan said he should focus on moving forward by concentrating on both his parliamentary responsibilities and party work.
“On matters where he has differing opinions, he can express them within the party framework,” Muraleedharan said.
“But if he feels suffocated in the current situation, to the extent that he can no longer continue, then he should relinquish the positions entrusted to him by the party and choose a political path of his liking,” he added.
Muraleedharan warns…
Muraleedharan, however, warned that choosing a path outside the two available options would affect Tharoor’s own political identity.
“If he proceeds on a path that is neither of the two mentioned, it becomes a matter that affects his personal identity. That would be a loss for both the party and for him,” Muraleedharan was quoted by PTI as saying.
“So, as a fellow colleague, what I want to say to him is that he must choose one of the two paths,” he said.
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