"Gandhi Family Is Blessing Me And Kharge Ji": Says Shashi Tharoor

The Congress leader and former Minister of State for External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor, has said that the Gandhi family is blessing him and senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge. “I have been blessed by the Gandhis. I am very fortunate that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi gave me an opportunity to serve in her government. And I am also grateful to Mr. Rahul Gandhi, who appointed me as the AICC spokesperson and General Secretary,” he told reporters in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

Mr. Tharoor was reacting to a question on whether there was any ‘Gandhi family dikhsa’ (blessing) for him and Mr. Kharge, who is the Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha. The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram said both he and Mr. Kharge had benefitted from working with the Gandhis. “I have always believed that if you work hard and honestly, good things will happen to you,” he added.

Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge are among the big names who have been left out of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body, in a major reshuffle announced on Saturday. The development comes amid an internal power struggle within the party after its crushing defeat in the general elections.

Tharoor, MP, a former diplomat and author, was seen as a rising star within the party and was tipped to be a future leader. He has been critical of the party’s direction under Rahul Gandhi. Kharge, meanwhile, is a senior leader from Karnataka and has served as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. He too has been critical of Gandhi’s leadership.