Shashi Tharoor an asset to party: Kerala state Congress chief

KOCHI: Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President K Sudhakaran asserted that party MP Shashi Tharoor has always been an asset to the Congress and no one can single him out.

His statement came in the wake of the reports of a tussle inside the Congress' state unit after Shashi Tharoor actively started participating in events and meeting with religious and political leaders across the state.

A section of Congress leaders in Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts has been kept away from Tharoor's functions recently. But the KPCC President also made it clear that he has spoken to him in Delhi and there is no controversy related to Tharoor.

He further said in a press conference held at Kochi, "Shashi Tharoor has worked within the party framework. No one can single him out. Tharoor's capacity is the party's asset. Tharoor and the party are united. He has always been an asset to the Congress."

The press conference was organised after the Political Affairs Committee meeting of the KPCC was held on Sunday after five months in Kochi. In that meeting, the controversies regarding Tharoor were discussed.

Tharoor's north Kerala political outreach programme recently created uproar in the party after he was denied a party forum to speak against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) politics, reportedly at the behest of senior leaders.

The senior leaders clarified that there was no information by the district Congress committee of this program.

After that, Kottayam District Congress Committee (DCC) president Nattakam Suresh openly came out against Tharoor, that Tharoor did not inform the district leadership as per the standing instructions to all leaders.

On the other hand, the KPCC President also lashed out at the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and its youth organisation Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) over the drug usage in the state that, "even school children are addicted to drugs.

The police are unable to find and take action against drug dealers. DYFI is behind the drugs in the state. Prisons with CPIM inmates are intoxicated. CPIM criminals are abusing prisons. Congress will conduct state-level anti-drug campaigns against drugs.

This unethical practice must be stopped." He also announced that Congress will start an agitation to protect the agricultural sector across the state.

He said that "the agricultural sector was the most important point discussed. The state government has become synonymous with incompetence, unable to even conduct procurement. Congress will start an agitation to protect the agricultural sector. We demand the government increase the price of crops and control inflation."

Sudhakaran also made it clear that the reorganization of KPCC will complete the reorganization within 3 months. "This has been approved by AICC. Only inactive ones will be changed. There will be no radical change," he added.