AICC rallies behind Shashi Tharoor

The current mood in the Congress is for not taking any action against its sitting MP Shashi Tharoor as the leadership would wait till the outcome of the investigation into the mysterious death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.

Mr Tharoor met political secretary to the Congress president Ahmed Patel on Sunday and told his version on this issue. Although Opposition party leaders in Kerala are demanding Mr Tharoor’s resignation from the Lok Sabha, the AICC on Monday defended him, alleging that there is “sustained misinformation campaign based on insinuation and innuendoes” against him and stressed he “neither was nor is accused in the case”.

At the AICC briefing, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala hit out at the BJP, saying sections of the ruling party claim to have access to documents that can only be available with the investigating officer or the investigating agency.

“Intervention or interference within ongoing criminal investigation is neither appropriate nor warranted,” Mr Surjewala said at the outset before alleging that “there is a sustained misinformation campaign based on insinuation and innuendoes in which a certain section of the leadership of the BJP is also involved”.

He said that such BJP leaders “claim to have access to documents or information that could possibly be available only to the investigating officers and investigating agencies”.

Noting that the authenticity of such information is itself under doubt, he also said that it is for the investigation agency concerned to look at how such information is available to people outside if it is really so.

“Tharoor neither was nor is accused in the case. Tharoor has already stated that he is willing to participate and cooperate in the investigation. We deprecate any misinformation, insinuation and innuendo,” Mr Surjewala said. “For what should he resign Has something come out against him ” asked party insiders.