Tharoor shared a newspaper clipping detailing the closure of over 42,000 MSMEs in Kerala in the last nine years on X and said that the state must look into it.
Published Mar 03, 2025 | 9:19 AM ⚊ Updated Mar 03, 2025 | 9:19 AM
Shashi Tharoor. (South First)
Synopsis: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor stated that the entrepreneurship story of Kerala differs from what has been reported. He detailed the closure of over 42,000 MSMEs in Kerala in the last nine years. Earlier, in a newspaper column, he had praised the state’s industrial performance.
Barely a few weeks after praising Kerala’s industrial performance, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor backtracked on his remarks on Sunday, 2 March, stating that the entrepreneurship story of the state differs from what has been reported.
Tharoor shared a newspaper clipping detailing the closure of over 42,000 MSMEs ( Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) in Kerala in the last nine years on X and said that the state must look into it.
“Dismayed to see that the Kerala start-up entrepreneurship story is not what’s been reported,” he wrote on X.
However, he said that the state government’s action point to the right intentions.
The only silver lining is that at least the GoK’s claims point to the right intentions. We need more MSME start-ups — and not just on paper. Kerala must head this way!” he wrote.
Further, he shared about MSMEs registering with the state to obtain loans, hoping for their economic revival.
“Theres more about what the official numbers conceal,” Tharoor wrote.
Theres more about what the official numbers conceal: pic.twitter.com/GbBTzus6Eb
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) March 2, 2025
Following the X post, state Congress president K Sudhakaran welcomed Tharoor’s willingness to change and correct.
He emphasised that the Thiruvananthapuram MP had not made any serious mistakes. “Tharoor has clarified everything he said. I thank him for his big heart,” Sudhakaran said in Kozhikode on Sunday.
Sudhakaran also reaffirmed his support for Tharoor in the backdrop of the recent controversies.
Earlier, a teaser for an Indian Express podcast featuring Tharoor’s remarks criticising the party’s Kerala unit leadership and hinting at having options beyond the party reportedly caused internal rift within the Congress Kerala unit.
However, after the full podcast was released, Tharoor said, “You all heard the podcast, what was the controversy about?… I still haven’t understood this controversy frankly… now you have heard the whole podcast, can you tell me what your question is, I am happy to respond.”
“But I haven’t said anything that is particularly… it is a podcast, a 45-minute conversation about life and the pursuits of happiness, nothing there very much about any political controversy.”
Tharoor’s remarks came just weeks after he faced criticism from his party over a newspaper column in which he praised the state’s industrial performance. Party colleagues widely viewed this as an indirect endorsement of the ruling CPI(M).
The situation prompted Tharoor to hold closed-door meetings with senior party leaders Mallikarjuna Kharge and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi.
Meanwhile, Senior Congress Kerala leader Ramesh Chennithala later clarified that Tharoor’s podcast remarks were made before his meeting with Rahul Gandhi, countering media reports suggesting dissatisfaction with their discussion.
He highlighted Tharoor’s significant contributions to the party, including his decade-long presence in the Congress Working Committee.
