Hours after Congress President Sonia Gandhi told senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor to abide by the decision of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee which has prohibited Congress leaders from attending the seminar to be held in connection with the CPI(M)’s 23rd party congress slated for next month in Kannur, Mr. Tharoor declined the invitation.
In a statement on Monday evening, Mr. Tharoor said he had conveyed his inability to participate, respecting Ms. Gandhi’s views on this matter. He also expressed regret at “unseemly public airing of internal differences,” creating needless controversy in a matter in which the All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) view was binding. The Congress MP also said he had received an invitation to participate in a seminar on the sidelines of the CPI(M) State party conference in Kerala last month. “On that occasion also, I consulted the AICC President and a suitable decision was taken without any media controversy,” Mr. Tharoor added.
Earlier in the day, Ms. Gandhi had met Mr. Tharoor and other Kerala MPs, including Thrissur MP T.N. Prathapan, Mavelikkara MP Kodikunnil Suresh and Chalakudy MP Benny Behanan. Mr. Tharoor, along with senior leaders K.V. Thomas and Mani Shankar Aiyar, has been invited for the CPI(M) national seminar from April 6 to 10.
