Shashi Tharoor loses Congress speaker's post
Party removes former minister as spokesperson for praising Modi
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-10-14 00:43 GMT
New Delhi: Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi costed dear to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, as he lost his post of AICC spokesperson. Mr Tharoor’s nine-month tenure as AICC spokesperson came to an end on Monday following an official order issued by party general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi.
Reacting over party’s decision, Mr Tharoor, though, claimed that he accepted the decision as a “loyal worker of Congress”, he rued that he did not get a chance to put his views across. He said, “I would have welcomed an opportunity to respond to the complaint by the state unit against me.”
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee had prepared a report against Mr Tharoor, which was referred to AICC’s disciplinary action committee a few days ago. The report had held that Thiruvananthapuram MP’s adulatory statements about Mr Modi had hurt Congress workers in Kerala, who had worked sincerely and tirelessly for his victory from the Lok Sabha seat.
Meanwhile, fishing into the troubled water, ruling BJP took a swipe at opposition Congress for acting against Mr Tharoor. It said, Congress’ decision reflects “intolerance” as the party cannot digest somebody doing good work. BJP secretary Siddharth Nath Singh said, “It is their internal matter. But certainly, it shows the level of tolerance or intolerance in the Congress.”
Though the AICC maintained that the decision was taken against Mr Tharoor as the state unit was “incensed” with Mr Tharoor’s remarks, including on social media, for last few months, the immediate provocation was his accepting with alacrity the Prime Minsiter’s invite to him to be an ambassador of “Swachh Bharat” mission.
“Congress President Sonia Gandhi has accepted the recommendation of the AICC disciplinary committee to remove Shashi Tharoor from the list of spokespersons with immediate effect. The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee had submitted a complaint in this regard to the disciplinary committee,” Mr Dwivedi said in a media release. After the party action, Mr Tharoor posted his statement on Twitter and Facebook saying it is the “prerogative of the party to “alter the responsibilities given to him”.