Will Shashi Tharoor contest as Kerala CM? MP’s answer

New Delhi: Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor dismissed speculations about him becoming the next chief minister of Kerala, saying he is not even contesting as he is not contesting in the upcoming assembly elections.In an interview to PTI, the Thiruvananthapuram MP made it clear that it would be better for the chief minister to be chosen from among the elected MLAs. “It is unlikely that I will be chief minister,” he said, adding that since he was not contesting the election he did not have to focus on a single constituency. Instead, his role will include campaigning “up and down the state” for the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s recent message to party leaders to “dance together”, Tharoor termed it a “good message” and said the unity within the alliance is now evident. He also expressed confidence in the UDF’s prospects and said getting 85 to 100 seats in the 140-member parliament would be a strong result.Using a cricket analogy, Tharoor said the UDF was throwing “googles” to the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and felt the ruling alliance was on a “sticky wicket”. While he acknowledged that modern elections often revolve around the appearance of the chief minister, he backed the Congress party’s traditional approach. “Congress has never done this,” he said, explaining that the leadership preferred to choose a leader in consultation with MLAs after victory.At the same time, Tharoor admitted that the lack of clear faces could bring disadvantages. “You and I may have different views… because being in a state without a clear leader inevitably hurts you,” he said. However, he feels that the Congress party’s organizational strength in Kerala has enabled it to campaign around its “agenda, mission and party icon”.Tharoor also downplayed the role of the BJP in Kerala, calling it a marginal player. “This is not a triangular contest as the BJP is a party with zero seats in Parliament,” he said, adding that winning even “one, two or three” seats would be considered a major success for the party.He insisted that the real competition remained between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s Democratic Front and the LDF. While he pointed to polls showing a close race, he said it was “unlikely that the BJP would even have enough clout to become a champion”.Kerala will go to single-phase polls on April 9, with counting scheduled for May 4, in a closely watched fight to oust the current LDF government.