Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor voiced his criticism towards the CPI on Tuesday, highlighting the irony in their stance towards Rahul Gandhi's candidacy in Wayanad while engaging in what he termed as "playing the BJP's game" in Thiruvananthapuram.
Tharoor, the Congress candidate from Thiruvananthapuram, expressed that the CPI's campaign against him in the constituency only serves to fragment the anti-BJP vote, contrasting sharply with their advocacy for alliance unity in Wayanad.
With a political career spanning 15 years representing Thiruvananthapuram in the Lok Sabha, Tharoor is vying for a record fourth term. His opponents in the upcoming elections include BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Electronics and Information Technology, as well as the CPI's Pannian Raveendran.
Taking to social media platform X, Tharoor remarked, "It’s ironic that the same @cpofindia that complains about @RahulGandhi’s candidature in Wayanad is playing the BJP’s game in Thiruvananthapuram." He emphasized, "The only effect of the CPI’s campaign against me in Thiruvananthapuram is to divide the anti-BJP vote. And they preach alliance dharma in Wayanad!"
The previous week, CPI general secretary D Raja had expressed the view that while the decision to field Gandhi from Wayanad rests with the Congress, public sentiment suggests that a leader of his stature should have contested a seat where he could directly challenge the BJP.
Responding to Gandhi's candidacy in Wayanad, where the CPI has fielded D Raja’s wife Annie Raja, the Left leader had conveyed to PTI, "The public opinion is that a leader of his stature should have contested against the BJP because we are fighting the BJP ideologically, politically, at the national level and in the states."
He questioned the message conveyed by the Congress by choosing to field Gandhi from Kerala, a state currently under the governance of the Left Democratic Front. Raja suggested alternative seats in Karnataka or Telangana where Gandhi could have directly confronted the BJP.
While the Congress and the CPI are part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) at the national level, they compete against each other in Kerala as part of rival state blocs – the United Democratic Front (UDF) and Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Read also | Electoral Commission Replaces West Bengal's Acting DGP Rajeev Kumar with Vivek Sahay
