‘What about Rahul?’: How CPI countered Shashi Tharoor’s ‘playing BJP’s game’ attack

NEW DELHI: The internal contradictions within opposition’s INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) bloc triggered an ugly war of words between the Congress and the Left Front in Kerala. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday accused CPI of dividing anti-BJP votes in his constituency Thiruvananthapuram evoking a strong response from the Left which once again questioned Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest from Wayanad.
In a post on X, Tharoor said, “It’s ironic that the same @cpofindia that complains about @RahulGandhi’s candidature in Wayanad is playing the BJP‘s game in Thiruvananthapuram”. “The only effect of CPI’s campaign against me in Thiruvananthapuram is to divide the anti-BJP vote. And they preach alliance dharma in Wayanad!” he added.
CPI general secretary D Raja reacted strongly to Tharoor’s remarks and said it is the Left that is “fighting the communal and fascist forces”. “It is an absurd statement. An educated man like Shashi Tharoor must understand the history of Kerala properly. It is the Left that is fighting the communal and fascist forces, so many Congress leaders are leaving and joining BJP,” he said.
The CPI leader also questioned why Rahul Gandhi was contesting from Wayanad in Kerala. “Rahul Gandhi claims that he is spearheading the fight against BJP, then why is he contesting from Wayanad and fighting against LDF? Congress must explain, what message they want to convey to people. Who are their main political enemies,” Raja said.
The CPI has been openly critical of Rahul Gandhi’s candidature from Wayanad and feels the Congress leader should focus on fighting the BJP in Hindi heartland instead of taking on an ally in Kerala. This time around it has fielded senior leader Annie Raja from Wayanad to contest against the former Congress chief.
BJP candidate in Thiruvananthapuram Rajeev Chandrasekhar reacted sharply to fight between the INDIA partners and accused Congress of trying to woo Muslim votes by trying to push the narrative that Left is helping the BJP.
“This newly found strategy by the Congress to criticize their own INDI alliance partner CPM, CPI. What that game is I don’t know. Except to say these are the two parties who have more commonality than any other two parties in India. They both have MoUs with China. They both want Narendra Modi to be toppled and they both today are in an alliance to keep Kerala and Thiruvananthapuram behind,” the Union minister said.
Is Shashi Tharoor worried?
Tharoor, who is seeking a fourth term from Thiruvananthapuram, has a formidable opponent in senior BJP leader and Union minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar this time around. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Thiruvananthapuram saw a three-way contest between the Congress, the BJP and the CPI. While Tharoor won with 41.15% of the total votes polled, BJP candidate Kummanam Rajasekharan was the runners-up with 31.26% of votes. CPI candidate C Divakaran was at third place with 25.57% of votes polled.
In 2014 Lok Sabha elections , Tharoor had won by just 15,470 votes in a close three-way contest over BJP’s O Rajagopal. CPI’s Bennet Abraham was at third spot with 28.50% votes.
Tharoor’s victory in 2009 was much more convincing with the Congress leader securing 44.29% of votes and winning by nearly one lakh votes over the CPI candidate P Ramachandran Nair who polled 30.74% of votes. BJP’s P K Krishna Das was at the third spot with 11.4% of votes polled.
The BJP’s vote share in the constituency has increased over the last three elections and with a strong candidate in Rajeev Chandrashekhar the saffron party could give a tough fight to Tharoor.

Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor (L), Union minister & BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate Pannyan Raveendran (R) during a programme in Thiruvananthapuram ahead of Lok Sabha elections (PTI photo)
The LDF, meanwhile, has fielded Pannyan Raveendran from Thiruvananthapuram constituency. “The main contest is between LDF and UDF. BJP is irrelevant in Thiruvananthapuram,” said Raveendran who won the constituency in 2005.
While Congress and CPI are allies at the national level, in Kerala they are bitter political rivals. The differences between the two parties often manifests in open war of words which gives credence to BJP’s charge that INDIA bloc is a coalition of convenience of parties with differing ideologies.
(With inputs from agencies)