Cong leader Muraleedharan asks Shashi Tharoor to choose path if he feels suffocated in party

Thiruvananthapuram: Shashi Tharoor, a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), is under harsh criticism from the party's state unit for his continuous actions which have put the party in a difficult spot.

A day after his article criticising Indira Gandhi over the Emergency appeared in a Malayalam daily, senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan on Friday launched a scathing attack on the Thiruvananthapuram MP, urging him to choose a clear political path if he feels constrained within the Congress.

"There are two paths before him," Muraleedharan said, referring to Tharoor's current dual role in Parliament and the party structure.

If there are differences of opinion, there is space within the party to voice them. But if he feels that he is unable to continue in the present set-up, then he should step down from the posts entrusted to him and pursue a political path of his choice, he told reporters.

Noting that Tharoor is a member of the Working Committee and the chairman of a Standing Committee appointed by the party, the senior leader said he should focus on moving forward by concentrating on both his parliamentary responsibilities and party work.

"On matters where he has differing opinions, he can express them within the party framework," Muraleedharan said.

"But if he feels suffocated in the current situation, to the extent that he can no longer continue, then he should relinquish the positions entrusted to him by the party and choose a political path of his liking," he added.

Stressing that choosing a path outside the two available options would affect Tharoor's own political identity, Muraleedharan warned that such a direction would be a loss for both the party and Tharoor himself.

"If he proceeds on a path that is neither of the two mentioned, it becomes a matter that affects his personal identity. That would be a loss for both the party and for him. So, as a fellow colleague, what I want to say to him is that he must choose one of the two paths," he said.

Asked about Tharoor's motive in praising leaders of other parties, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Muraleedharan said the Thiruvananthapuram MP praises everyone except Congress leaders.

With PTI inputs