How Congress presidential election helped Shashi Tharoor consolidate position in Kerala unit of party

Sudhakaran went to the extent calling Tharoor a trainee in party politics, with little knowledge of organisational affairs.

‘A brilliant outcome’

But with the election done and dusted — Tharoor got just 1,072 votes compared to Kharge’s 7,897 — Congress insiders believe that the Thiruvananthapuram MP bagged almost 50 percent of the Kerala votes.

Candidate for AICC President election Dr Shashi Tharoor casting his vote. (Twitter: INC India)

When contacted by South First, Lok Sabha member MK Raghavan — the only senior Kerala leader to openly support Tharoor — estimated that he won 130 of the 287 votes cast in the state.

“We analysed the voting patterns and prevailing trends to conclude that Tharoor won 130 votes from the Kerala unit,” said Raghavan, a close confidant of Tharoor.

“Though senior leaders opposed him, Tharoor won the confidence of a sizeable portion of AICC members in the state by reaching out to them. Several young leaders openly said they preferred Tharoor in the battle.

“For us, the outcome is brilliant,” added Raghavan.

At odds with state leaders

When Tharoor was declared Congress candidate for Thiruvananthapuram in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, it came as a rude shock to the state leadership. They have, ever since, considered him as someone “imported” under pressure from the party’s national leadership.

Many objected to his candidature, saying it would be difficult for an outsider with poor command over Malayalam and an inability to wear the Kerala mundu to win in a constituency like Thiruvananthapuram.

Shashi Tharoor in Hyderabad. (Supplied)

Tharoor not only proved them wrong by winning the election, but went score a hattrick by winning the constituency two more times, his natural charm helping him connect with both the elite and less privileged among the voters.

He now speaks Malayalam with ease and carries off the mundu with typical Kerala aplomb.

“Despite his stunning performance in the elections in a constituency where CPI(M) and BJP have many traditional citadels, Congress leaders in Kerala never acknowledged his calibre,” said veteran journalist and social activist BRP Bhaskar.

“He was never part of KPCC, and no organisational role was assigned to him. The powerful groups within the party led by Chandy, Chennithala and KC Venugopal did not accommodate him. He was never consulted on organisational matters — even after the humiliating defeat the party suffered in the last Assembly election,” Bhaskar told South First.

Despite such slights, Tharoor, ever the practical politician, never displayed a ruffled feather.

…and the party line

Tharoor also stuck to his convictions, even if they were at odds with the party line.

He has supported the Union government’s decision to hand over the running and maintenance of Thiruvananthapuram international airport to the Adani group, even as the entire state leadership of the Congress openly criticised him for his stand.

Tharoor has maintained that only privatisation could help develop the airport.

His positive comments on the administrative skills of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan did not go down well with the party leadership either.

Again, Tharoor recently praised the controversial Silverline Rail Project mooted by the state’s LDF government, saying it would ensure better infrastructure development in the state.

He is also one of the strongest defenders of the under-construction Vizhinjam international transhipment terminal, once again a project promoted by the Adani group.

The state leadership of the party snubbed him over both these issue.

The road ahead

Many Congress leaders in Kerala believe Tharoor would contest the next parliament election as an LDF-supported independent if the Congress denies him a ticket.

Late CPI(M) leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan with Sashi Tharoor. (KB Jayachandran/South First)

“He maintains good rapport with leaders of rival political parties, including Trinamool Congress and AAP. Ideology would not be a hinderance for him, and he can easily switch loyalty at any point,” said a Congress leader who preferred anonymity.

This is line with another theory that is often floated about Tharoor — that he would switch to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), along with a sizeable number of Congress workers, to fulfill his openly stated desire to do good for Kerala as its chief minister.

But those close to his pooh-pooh such talk.

“All this is twisting of simple facts. He is a talented politician who believes in decency and decorum. As a friend and confidant, I can say he will not go anywhere. There is no other party suitable for him. He is acting within the democratic framework existing in the Congress,” said John Samuel, founder of the Thiruvananthapuram-based Institute of Sustainable Development and Governance.

“Tharoor is not a loser in the presidential election. He has emerged as one of the top-ranking national leaders of the party. At the state level, nobody can ignore him any longer,” Samuel told South First.

“Several young leaders, including Hibi Eden (Lok Sabha MP from Ernakulam) and (former MLA) KS Sabarinathan, have openly stood with him in the election.  He won several votes from the Kerala unit of the party by dismantling all the existing group equations. KPCC will have to listen more to him in the coming days,” he added.

Support among workers

When, during the campaign for the Congress presidential election, Tharoor visited the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee office in Thiruvananthapuram, not one office-bearer turned up to welcome him.

But outside the gates of the part office, hundreds of ordinary party workers had gathered to meet him, shouting slogans in his support. It indicated a clear disconnect between the state’s Congress leadership and its workers.

And if the social media hype his candidature evoked in Kerala is any indication, Tharoor has won the hearts of Malayalis across the political spectrum.

Even traditional Left fellow-travellers openly identified Tharoor as their choice and expressed dismay over the Congress leadership’s preference of Mallikarjun Kharge.

“The election has proved that Tharoor is an asset to the party. This is not the end, but the beginning. He will continue to lead the party by standing solidly with the elected leadership,” said Raghavan.

“For him, the election was a democratic process. He gave it credibility.”