Shashi Tharoor mentioned his just isn’t a “protest candidacy” however a contest between colleagues within the celebration.
New Delhi:
Shashi Tharoor, who squares off with Mallikarjun Kharge within the October 17 Congress president election, revealed at present that Sonia Gandhi informed him “you’re most welcome to contest” and warranted him there can be no “official candidate” as her whole household would keep impartial.
The Congress chief mentioned he met with Sonia Gandhi, not for a inexperienced sign however to search out out what the official stand is. The Congress president did not attempt to dissuade him in any respect, he mentioned.
“If she may need mentioned why do you wish to contest, we at all times do issues by consensus, depart it to us, we’ll discover the precise individual…However there was nothing of that kind. Quite the opposite, she mentioned precisely the alternative. She mentioned ‘we consider the elections are good for the celebration. If you wish to contest, you’re most welcome’,” Mr Tharoor informed NDTV.
Mr Tharoor mentioned he requested Sonia Gandhi whether or not there can be an official candidate. “She mentioned there will probably be no official candidate, so far as I’m involved your entire household is impartial within the race. I had the identical dialog however each Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi and I bought the identical message constantly. When Digvijay Singh went to Sonia Gandhi he bought the identical message,” the Congress chief mentioned.
Mr Tharoor mentioned his just isn’t a “protest candidacy” however a contest between colleagues within the celebration. Responding to critics who’ve questioned his expertise in politics and whether or not he’s the precise individual for the job, he mentioned: “Fourteen years is lengthy sufficient to make a contribution and to have demonstrated each one’s loyalty to the celebration and to its beliefs and beliefs, and to have had a number of alternatives to exhibit it, which I’ve finished in parliament and variety of speeches and interventions and books and articles I’ve written. I do not suppose I want to clarify my candidacy.”
He additionally tackled the massive query for any Congress candidate operating for celebration chief – will the candidate be a puppet for the Gandhis?
“We’ll cross these bridges after we come to it. I actually consider that the Gandhis’ place within the Congress…their inextricable hyperlinks with the DNA of the celebration is nice. There isn’t a query of separating ourselves from them, their legacy. If they do not wish to be actively concerned, I do not perceive the place the concern (of them pulling the strings) comes from,” Mr Tharoor mentioned.
On what function he noticed for Rahul Gandhi with a non-Gandhi in cost, Mr Tharoor mentioned: “There is not any query of the attraction he (Rahul Gandhi) and different members of the Gandhi household have for the voting public. For the celebration to not use an asset like this is able to be silly. On the similar time, he has made up his thoughts to not return as Congress chief. Frankly, if he needed to be president, he may accomplish that with a snap of his fingers tomorrow.”
Rahul Gandhi continues to be seen to be de-facto in cost, it was identified. Would he nonetheless be the face of the Congress within the 2024 nationwide election? And wouldn’t it be clever, given the result of two normal elections, he was requested.
“You might be dragging me down a path that hasn’t but been constructed. Let’s come to it… In 2024, I believe a big no of things should be taken into consideration, together with the potential of a brand new opposition coalition or alliance. Different events might have contenders within the fray, whether or not our celebration itself would essentially have the Prime Ministerial face, whether or not there can be any PM face in any respect – this stuff, different should weigh of their opinions, together with the Gandhis,” he mentioned.
The Congress MP additionally asserted that he’s not the G-23 candidate for the election, the celebration’s first in over 20 years.
On not particularly consulting with the “G-23” or the group of dissenters who wrote to Sonia Gandhi in 2020 calling for an enormous overhaul within the celebration, Mr Tharoor mentioned: “I did not really feel want to talk to colleagues past their particular person capability. I spoke to every individually…I do not suppose there’s an organisation known as the G-23 past media creativeness.”
He added: “I want the backing of 9,100 folks, not 23. I’m not the candidate of the G-23. It’s a fantasy, there is no such thing as a such factor.”
He additionally mentioned he has a plan for the celebration, a manifesto that will probably be shared with over 9,000 Congress electors. Decentralisation, he mentioned, might be an enormous reply to the chaos within the celebration.
The previous Union Minister, identified for his “Tharoorisms” or unusually lengthy phrases, additionally responded to criticism about his “elitist” picture and accent, which he attributed to his years in St Stephens faculty.
“If there are folks do not wish to look past my accent, they do not should vote for me. Finally, we’ve got an electoral faculty. If the implication is that I’m some form of elitist, I’ll level out I’ve gained three elections. Thiruvananthapuram, regardless of being the capital of Kerala, is a 66% rural constituency. I’ve fisher people, I’ve hill dwellers, I’ve tribals, I’ve all kinds of individuals whose votes I want to draw. And I’ve finished so. I’ve been attentive to the issues of individuals of various backgrounds. I do not suppose anybody sees me as some form of transplanted Oxbridge. By the best way, I by no means studied in Oxbridge. I solely debated there. The accent is a Stephanian accent,” he mentioned.
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