Cong. views Tharoor’s Malabar pitch as politically fractious

No scope for one more faction apart from A and I groups within the Congress and, if at all one more letter has to be added, it should be U for a united party, he says

Congress leadership in Kerala has reportedly perceived Shashi Tharoor’s Malabar tour, as an “ill-timed and potentially fractious” parallel political campaign conducted independently of the party’s State machinery.

Without mentioning Mr. Tharoor by name, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said the Congress would not brook leaders conducting political business outside the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee’s (KPCC) remit.

“The State leadership will not allow anyone to weaken the party from within,” Mr. Satheesan said. He said the Congress tent was expansive and accommodative, with sufficient space for all leaders. However, there was no room for factionalism.

Mr. Satheesan’s words were widely interpreted as an indictment of Mr. Tharoor’s “non-conformist” political sally into Malabar.

Mr. Tharoor attended public functions, glad-handled Congress workers and conferred with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), triggering speculation that the leader was politically positioning himself to head a rising faction in the Congress.

Mr. Tharoor’s Malabar campaign convulsed the party in Kerala. For one, it has triggered an acrimonious war of words between leaders.

Secondly, party workers felt blindsided and torn between pro and anti-Tharoor factions without a clear KPCC diktat spelling out its position on the Malabar campaign.