Why Shashi Tharoor is a better bet for Congress in Kerala than KC Venugopal?

New Delhi: The sudden buzz in Kerala and Delhi about Shashi Tharoor's political ambitions has pressed panic buttons in the Congress.

The party high command has called a meeting of Kerala leaders in Delhi on Friday to discuss the strategy and preparations for next year's assembly elections.

Tharoor's selfie with Union Minister Piyush Goyal further set tongues wagging in political circles.

He had earlier praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his meeting with US President Donald Trump, and also Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Left Democratic Front government.

However, the four-time Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha member has maintained that he would neither join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nor the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) due to stark ideological differences. At the same time, Tharoor did not shy away from stating that he would explore alternative options if the Congress party didn't need his services in Kerala.

He has already explained his position to Rahul Gandhi in a one-on-one meeting on February 21.

The big question before the Congress high command is whether to let Tharoor go and bank solely on KC Venugopal to bring the party back in power in Kerala after ten years of the CPI(M) rule?

It is well known in Kerala political circles that both Tharoor and Venugopal nurse the ambition of becoming the chief minister.

But a comparison of both puts Tharoor way ahead of Venugopal.

Firstly, Tharoor is extremely popular among the youth and the middle class, the two most important segments of voters nowadays.

Being well educated and having served the United Nations, Tharoor's strong credentials will definitely be an advantage for the Congress in the upcoming polls. He had joined the Congress in 2009 at the request of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Even the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the largest ally of the Congress in Kerala, called Tharoor a crowd-puller and an effective campaigner.

According to the IUML, Tharoor’s contributions would be valuable to the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala.

“I believe he is still a Congressman. Tharoor is an effective campaigner, and the UDF can utilise him.

He is part of the UDF and the INDIA alliance. He is also a well-known politician in India. He is a crowd-puller,” IUML state president Panakkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said.

This has definitely come as a shot in the arm of Tharoor and made it extremely difficult for the Congress high command to further sideline him.

On the other hand, Venugopal has risen through the ranks, starting his career with the NSUI (National Students Union of India - the students' wing of the grand old party). But that is his only qualification.
His public display of proximity to Rahul Gandhi has antagonised both the Congress leaders and workers in Kerala. It is a fact that no one in Kerala likes him.

Congress leaders and workers in Kerala are curious to know his USP or utility for the party or, for that matter, Rahul Gandhi from whom he derives his unlimited power and influence.

It is high time Rahul Gandhi understood the ground realities, realised the true potential and utility of both Tharoor and Venugopal and set his house in order. He should give some responsibility to Tharoor and try to keep his flock together, or else be contend with sitting in the opposition in Kerala for a third successive term. The decision is entirely his.