CPI Kerala Secy slams Tharoor's decision to lead delegation on Operation Sindoor

Thiruvananthapuram | Amid the controversy over the Centre picking Shashi Tharoor to lead a multi-party delegation post Operation Sindoor, the CPI Kerala unit on Sunday slammed the Congress MP, alleging that he was looking to be part of the "sleeping cells" in the grand old party.

CPI state secretary Binoy Viswom, in a post on social media platform X, said that Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's concerns about BJP's sleeping cells in Congress was not a simple matter as Tharoor was looking for a place in them.

He also hit out at the BJP, accusing it of using the fight against terrorism to "hunt for party gains".

"@RahulGandhi' concern about BJP sleeping cells inside Congress is not so simple. It seems that @sashitharoor is in search of his berth in that cell. @BJP4India knows how to make use of such elements. For them, even the fight against terrorism is a hunt for party gains!" Viswom said on X.

His remarks come in the wake of Tharoor accepting the Centre's invite to lead a multi-party delegation abroad to put across India's stand against Pakistan on terrorism.

His decision has become controversial as his name was not among those given by the Congress on the central government's request.

Defending his decision, Tharoor on Saturday had said that he saw no politics in the matter.

He had further said that Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju officially invited him to lead the delegation in view of his past experience in handling foreign affairs and "I immediately agreed".

"I see no politics in it. According to me, politics become important when we have a nation. We all are Indians. When the nation is in crisis and the central government seeks the help of a citizen, what other answer would you give," he had told reporters here.

The Congress had nominated former Union Minister Anand Sharma, the party's Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain and Lok Sabha MP Raja Brar after the government asked for the names of four MPs for the delegations