Union Minister of State for HRD Shashi Tharoor was keen to step down on Tuesday.
Thiruvananthapuram: Union Minister of State for HRD Shashi Tharoor was keen to step down on Tuesday evening after his wife Sunanda Pushkar's accidental death, but Congress president Sonia Gandhi gave him an additional responsibility as party spokesperson, indicating the party’s backing in his hour of grief, AICC sources said. Though Tharoor's re-contest from Thiruvanthapuram is still on the cards, several aspirants have jumped into the fray.
Prior to Tharoor’s stepson Shiv Menon’s statement that his mother was too strong to commit suicide, Gandhi had rejected his request to step down. Immediately after that Tharoor was made one of the AICC spokespersons.
“Tharoor was dejected by the media ‘sensationalising’ his wife’s death. Also with elections round the corner, Tharoor was keen not to create further problems for the party. But he did let out a sigh of relief when AICC announced the list of spokespersons. Tharoor is most likely to contest from Thiruvananthapuram,” said a source. Some leaders also want A.K.Antony to be fielded from here.
Even before Tharoor’s name was being linked with the death of Pushkar, a local Congress leader had opined that he should have been more guarded. Another non-political name being mentioned as probable candidate from Thiruvananthapuram is that of former ambassador and vice-chairman of the Kerala State Higher Education Council T. P. Sreenivasan.
“So far I have not been approached by anyone. Whether I contest or not is a hypothetical question,” Sreenivasan, who is a close family friend of Tharoor, told DC
