Thiruvananthapuram: Mukul Wasnik, the AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala who was here for holding talks with the District Congress Committee (DCC) leaders on Lok Sabha candidates, felt the heat after a majority of them stayed away.
Dr Shashi Tharoor, MP, who is sitting pretty and set for a third straight contest from the state capital, was in for an embarrassment as several leaders raised complaints against his office.
Only 68 of the 138 DCC leaders turned up provoking KPCC president Mullappally Ramachan- dran to say “dried up trees should be cut and new trees which are energetic and sprouting with green leaves planted”.
Mr Wasnik demanded action against the absentees, despite calls from colleagues. There were lots of empty chairs staring at leaders. “Only 50 per cent of the mandalam level leaders attended the meeting. Fortunately, only six to seven bloc presidents kept away,” said a Congress leader.
When Mr Wasnik sought the opinion of Dr Tharoor’s performance as a two-term MP, eight expressed their strong displeasure with his office staff.
Thiruvananthapuram central block president P. Padmakumar maintained that almost every leader in the hall would have the same opinion.
He alleged that Dr Tharoor comes to the constituency rarely and he's busy with his overseas engagements.
