Tharoor snubs Congress meet again, fuelling speculation over his next move

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Questions have once again arisen about the relationship of senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor with the party leadership. On Friday, Rahul Gandhi had called an important meeting of all 99 Lok Sabha MPs of the Congress, in which Shashi Tharoor did not attend. This is the third consecutive time that Tharoor has been absent from an important party meeting. The winter session of Parliament is going to end on December 19, and before that, his absence from this meeting, called to decide the strategy to corner the ruling party, has given rise to discussions in political circles.

Shashi Tharoor's past praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already created a sense of unease within the party. However, Tharoor's absence from Friday's meeting is being attributed to personal commitments. According to information provided on his social media handle "X," he is currently in Kolkata. He stated that he is busy attending events there, including the wedding of his longtime associate John Koshy and his sister Smita Tharoor's birthday. It's also worth noting that MP Manish Tewari, who has often been the subject of speculation, was also absent from the meeting.

Earlier in November, Shashi Tharoor had also skipped two major meetings. His absence from a meeting called by Sonia Gandhi on November 30th was explained by his return to Delhi from Kerala with his 90-year-old mother and his flight rescheduling preventing him from attending. He also skipped a meeting called by Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge on November 18th to discuss the Special Intensive Review (SIR), citing ill health. Tharoor's participation in the G-23 group, which spoke out against the leadership in August 2020, and his continued absence from meetings have raised concerns about Tharoor's next political move.