Kerala minister attacks Tharoor for ‘ignoring’ state affairs

Thiruvananthapuram: A Kerala Minister on Wednesday attacked Congress’ Thiruvanthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor over his way of functioning and accused him of ignoring local affairs.

As Education Minister V. Sivankutty, Transport Minister Antony Raju, and Food and Civil Supplies Minister G.R. Anil were speaking to the media on the eve of the Pinarayi Vijayan government celebrating its second anniversary, Sivankutty launched an attack on Tharoor for not attending the local programmes of the state government.

“No one knows where his MPLAD Fund is being utilized. May be he has a feeling that even if he doesn’t do anything, he will win,” said Sivankutty.

Tharoor’s style of working is seen as contrary to how other politicians operate.

He made his debut in politics in 2009 general elections and won from Thiruvanthapuram with a margin of nearly a lakh votes, but in 2014, got a fright as his margin plunged down to around 14,000 votes margin – attributed to the controversy following the mysterious death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar at a Delhi hotel. However, in 2019, he bounced back with an almost identical margin as in his debut.

Though he unsuccessfully contested the election to the post of the Congress President, his stock still remains high.