Congress Member Shashi Tharoor Dismisses Rumors That He Is Moving Political Party

Relations between the party Congress and one of its prominent members Shashi Tharoor have been frosty since he threw his hat into the ring to stand as president of the party against establishment favorite Mallikarjun Kharge.

A day after Congress politician Shashi Tharoor was reportedly offered a post in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) by Kerala state president PC Chacko, the former sought to clarify the situation on Monday.

"I need to be welcomed if I am going there. I am not going to NCP. Such matters were not discussed with PC Chacko," Tharoor told reporters in Kerala's city Kochi.

Tharoor's reaction came after Chacko, who was himself a member of the Congress for nearly five decades before leaving the party last year, urged him to join the NCP in Kannur.

"If Congress MP Shashi Tharoor comes to NCP, we will accept him warmly. Shashi Tharoor will remain as Thiruvananthapuram MP even if the Congress party rejects him. I do not know why Congress is ignoring Tharoor," the NCP politician stated.

He added that he believed that Congress was ignoring Tharoor because the party is jealous of him.

Tharoor, who remains popular in his home state of Kerala, recently won three consecutive elections in his Thiruvananthapuram parliamentary constituency. Despite his popularity, however, ties between the diplomat-turned-politician and Congress have been on a downward spiral in recent days.

Last month, Congress left him out of the party's list of star campaigners for the Gujarat elections.

The leader of the Opposition in Kerala's state assembly, VD Satheesan, has also accused him of running "parallel" activities in the coastal state, which Tharoor instantly rejected.