Thiruvananthapuram, March 6 (IANS) Former UN under-secretary general Shashi Tharoor’s readiness to contest the Lok Sabha election from Kerala will be discussed by the Congress, state president Ramesh Chennithala said Friday.
“He has expressed his willingness to contest. This will be discussed by the nine-member sub-committee of our party led by Mohsina Kidwai,” Chennithala told reporters here.
He hinted that the final list of candidates may contain some “non-political personalities”.
Asked how the Congress can consider Tharoor when he was highly critical of the party in one of his books, Chennithala shot back: “These things do not matter because then he had nothing to do with the Congress.”
On Thursday, former chief minister Oommen Chandy and Chennithala met Congress legislators and senior party leaders.
“The results of the meetings will be communicated to the sub committee which will then prepare the list of candidates. We expect to announce the candidates by March 15,” said Chennithala.
Meanwhile, Tharoor’s posters have surfaced in his hometown Palakkad but it remains to be seen how the rank and file of the Congress will take his candidature.