The rift escalates as K Muraleedharan said Shashi Tharoor won’t be invited to party events unless he changes his national security stance.
The simmering rift between the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee and the party’s Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor erupted into open hostility on Sunday, with senior leader K Muraleedharan declaring that the latter would no longer be invited to any party programme in the state capital unless he changes his stance on national security.
In a strongly worded statement, K Muraleedharan said Shashi Tharoor, who is also a Congress Working Committee (CWC) member, was no longer considered as “one of us”.
The Kerala Congress was replying to journalists’ queries seeking his view on Shashi Tharoor sticking to his stand on the issue of national security.
Also Read | Shashi Tharoor says cross-party cooperation seen as disloyalty: ‘Becomes a big problem’
His response also comes a day after Tharoor had said the nation comes first and parties are the means of making the country better.
At a private event in Kochi, defending his public support for the central government and armed forces following the recent Pahalgam terror attack, Tharoor said, “I will stand my ground because I believe this is the right thing for the country,” he said, adding that political parties are “only a means to make the country better.”
Tension boiling up
K Muraleedharan’s latest statement is in a string of confrontations between Tharoor and the state Congress leadership, which accuses the Thiruvananthapuram MP of undermining party unity through unilateral actions and “pro-government” remarks.
The latest flashpoint came in the wake of Tharoor’s public statements endorsing the Modi government’s counter-terrorism efforts.
The senior Congress leader had also attacked Tharoor following his article criticising Indira Gandhi over the Emergency appearing in a Malayalam daily.
His exclusion from campaigning in the June Nilambur bypoll, despite being a named star campaigner, marked a public rift, though the KPCC claimed it was “strategic silence”.
How Kerala Congress vs Tharoor tussle began
The initial signs of friction appeared back in late 2022, when Shashi Tharoor set off on his solo “Malabar tour” — meeting local leaders, students, and professionals in northern Kerala. While it looked like an outreach effort on the surface, many in the party — including Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan and KPCC chief K Sudhakaran — saw it differently.
To them, it seemed like Tharoor was trying to carve out his own turf and build a personal brand, sidestepping the party’s usual chain of command. That’s when the murmurs of discomfort really began.
Split wide open now
But the split widened significantly in 2025, after Tharoor’s remarks after the Pahalgam terror attack, where he appeared to back the Narendra Modi government’s security policy.
What Shashi Tharoor said
Despite pressure from the party’s central and state leadership, Shashi Tharoor has stood firm. In Kochi on Saturday, the Congress MP said, “Which is your first loyalty? To my mind, the nation comes first… I believe in national security and national interest.”
The Congress MP had also said a lot of people have been very critical of him because of his stand supporting the armed forces and the central government in connection with what happened recently in the country and its borders.
“But I will stand my ground, because I believe this is the right thing for the country,” he said.
Tharoor had also said that when people like him call for cooperating with other parties in the interests of national security, their own parties feel that it’s disloyal to them, and that becomes a big problem.
What’s next?
K Muraleedharan has made it clear that the Kerala Congress will not engage Tharoor unless he realigns with the party’s stance. At the same time, state leaders have pushed the ball to the AICC, urging the central leadership to take a call on disciplinary action.
The article originally appeared on Hindustan Times
