‘Cong worth reforming, reviving’: Tharoor again calls for change

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday reiterated his call for changes in the Congress, saying that the party is “worth reforming and reviving”. Tharoor’s remarks came on the day the Congress Working Committee, in a meeting called to discuss the disastrous assembly polls debacle, urged interim president Sonia Gandhi to make “necessary and comprehensive” changes in the organisation.

Tharoor was part of a group of Congress leaders, popularly called the “G23”, who wrote to Congress president Sonia Gandhi in 2020, questioning the party’s functioning and seeking structural overhaul.

Taking to Twitter on Sunday, Tharoor shared a list of the number of MLAs that respective parties in the county have nationwide. According to the list , the Congress has over 750 MLAs, the most after the BJP, which has over 1,400 legislators. “This is why incindia remains by far the most credible of the national opposition parties. It’s also why it’s worth reforming & reviving,’’ he said, sharing the list.

The development comes days after the Congress lost Punjab to the AAP and could not wrest Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur away from the BJP. The party’s seat tally in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh also fell to its lowest.

Later, speaking at the 15th Jaipur Literature Festival, Tharoor said the only aim of “G-23” leaders is to strengthen the party.

“But when you say G-23, it’s a name by created by media…it was just that two-three friends wrote a letter and whoever could come to Delhi, signed it during the lockdown. There is no ‘G’ in it nor ‘Ji huzoori, we just wanted that party should be strengthened and be active… It’s been two years but there is not much of a change…that’s why we are saying that there should be some progress and change,” he said.

Replying to a question on the poll drubbing, he said, “I am Desh Premi (patriot), I want to see my Bharat mahaan in a good sense. If Bharat is mahaan then people should be happy, food to eat, education for children, and jobs in future…I am still ready to struggle for this Bharat.”

Tharoor also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him “a man of tremendous dynamism”. “I think he is a man of tremendous dynamism. I think, he has done something that is very-very impressive, especially politically. He has won elections that many of us assumed will be close.”

“On the negative side, he has unleashed some forces in the society that are dividing our nation on communal and religious ground, which to my mind is actually introducing toxins into our social ethos, which is unfortunate. But I don’t want to personalise this, its not about an individual, but the ruling party and forces of the establishment and their ideology…”