Left targets Tharoor for Sunanda’s death

The last time Shashi Tharoor contested the Lok Sabha elections from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency as a newcomer, the opposition’s biggest weapon against him was his alleged elitism, but this time the game has changed.

The Left parties have a new weapon against him - vulgarity. Both the CPI and the CPM are united in this game of making vulgar comments and allegations against him, that too by converting the personal tragedy of the loss of his wife into an opportunity to hit below the belt.

The latest to join this band of bad-mouthed leaders is former MLA and CPM leader, M Vijayakumar. In his campaign speech, he said Tharoor had a PhD in violence against women. Although Vijayakumar’s statement made headlines, he was not the first to make such lousy statements against the Congressman.

CPI MLA VS Sunil Kumar was more blatant. He accused Tharoor of murdering his wife. In fact, his party secretary in the state, Pannyan Ravindran, was the first to insinuate Tharoor’s hand in Sunanda Pushkar’s death and wanted a full fledged enquiry.

Similar charges were also made by another CPI leader and former minister C Divakaran. He even asked the Congress not to field him as its candidate in Thiruvananthapuram. He alleged that Pushkar had tweeted about her husband’s role in the IPL scam before her death. A few years ago, a CPM MP A Vijayaraghavan went at length about Tharoor’s interest in women at a public speech. This is a lousy public art in Kerala and the CPM and CPI leaders are increasingly specialising in it.

Other parties too have some people speaking rubbish in public forums, but they are outliers in terms of political consequence. What’s equally shocking is the way the senior leaders have justified the vulgarity.

Former home minister and CPM politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said that such situations were routine during the elections and the party would face it legally if the Election Commission sent notices.

Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan, who had made a highly disparaging remark against a Congress woman leader some time back, also backed Vijayakumar’s charges. Making lousy remarks, public threats, demonstration of intolerance and speaking with forked tongue are not new to the CPM leaders, but what’s disconcerting is their increasing acceptance within the party and its cadres. Of the two left parties, the CPI has been better behaved, but of late, it has joined the bandwagon of leaders mouthing vulgar innuendos. Interestingly, the parties are not alone in the attack against Tharoor - they are happily joined by the BJP and its women’s wing. Tharoor has chosen to take the legal route. He has complained to the Election Commission that these remarks violate the model code of conduct.