Murky politics

That the Congress in Kerala has targeted former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor for having praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachch Bharat Abhiyan is the latest example of the party, at the state level at least, having learnt nothing from its recent electoral debacle. It has submitted an adverse report against him to party chief, urging her to “do the needful.” Busy protecting her political turf as the electoral battle in Maharashtra and Haryana heats up, she would be best advised to throw the representation in the nearest dustbin. She surely has better things to do. The Kerala unit has made no secret of its dislike for Tharoor, a former international civil servant and an eminent writer-thinker, who it feels has been ‘imposed’ time and again, to contest from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency. That he has won each time and especially this year when the Congress’ national score is a dismal 44 does not seem to have impressed his colleagues who seem to disapprove of everything he stands for. As he says himself, he is ‘different’ from the others who made politics their full time profession.

No doubt, Tharoor has had a tendency to court controversy, from the IPL match franchise for Kerala to his famous tweet about India’s “cattle class” to the mysterious death of his second wife, Sunanda Pushkar. But this is different. He must be granted the freedom of speaking up on an issue of universal nature. And he has clarified on social media that his support to Modi’s campaign does not make him a BJP or Sangh Parivar acolyte. The question is: why is the party so paranoid about whatever Tharoor says or does? The party’s official daily in Kerala ‘Veekshnam,’ carried a stinging editorial, raising questions about his loyalty to the organisation.

Does the party not have any issue to work on while running the government in Kerala, the way it does? Its attempt to raise taxes has raised hackles among the Left Front. The prohibition is being imposed whimsically because of the ego clash and insecurity among Chief Minister Oomen Chandy and Kerala PCC chief V M Sudheeran. How a government that spends 84 per cent of its revenue on paying staff salaries can afford to do without the revenue from the sale of alcoholic beverages is something nobody seems to have a clue.

The Congressmen in Kerala cannot be oblivious of the fact that their party colleagues elsewhere have joined the Modi-led campaign for a cleaner India. They could not have missed Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, for instance, happily sweeping the road and getting photographed – all smiles. No Congressman, or for that matter, anyone in public life, can afford to belittle Modi’s call. The issue has touched hearts and minds, at home and abroad. Filthy streets, choked drains, dusty government offices and much else, are a shame difficult to bear after 67 years of independence.