Shashi Tharoor skips Rahul Gandhi-led Congress MPs' meet

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was missing from a meeting of the party’s Lok Sabha MPs chaired by Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, rekindling questions within the Congress over his repeated absence from key deliberations. While party sources claimed Tharoor had informed the leadership about his unavailability in advance, the Congress chief whip said he was not aware of the reason for the MP’s absence.

ANOTHER MISSED MEETING

Tharoor, who represents Thiruvananthapuram in the Lok Sabha, was also absent alongside Chandigarh MP Manish Tiwari. According to his public schedule, Tharoor was in Kolkata last night for an event hosted by the Prabha Khaitan Foundation, indicating he may not have returned to Delhi in time for the meeting.

This comes days after Tharoor clarified that he had not deliberately skipped the Congress strategic group meeting on 30 November. He said he had been on a flight from Kerala when that meeting took place. “I did not skip it; I was on a plane, coming from Kerala,” he had said on 1 December, after his absence drew attention within the party.

PATTERN OF NON-ATTENDANCE SPARKS TALK

Tharoor had also missed the Congress discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) issue earlier, citing ill health. His office had then explained that the MP was travelling with his 90-year-old mother on a later flight from Kerala and could not reach Delhi in time. Congress general secretary K. C. Venugopal, too, had skipped that meeting due to local body poll campaigning in Kerala.

However, some Congress leaders remain uneasy about the growing list of absences, particularly after Tharoor was the only Congress representative invited to the state banquet hosted by the President for visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin. The invitation had sparked internal murmurs, with Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera remarking, “Everyone’s conscience has a voice. When my leaders aren’t invited, but I am, we should understand why the game is being played, who is playing the game, and why we shouldn’t be part of it.”

INTERNAL CONCERNS PERSIST

Tharoor’s no-shows have become a point of discussion within the party, even as he maintains that each absence has been due to prior commitments or unavoidable circumstances. The Congress leadership has not publicly commented on the matter, but the repeated instances have added to the quiet discomfort among sections of MPs at a time when the party is trying to project unity in the Winter Session of Parliament.

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