THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Senior Congress leader and local MP Shashi Tharoor has said that no central forces should be deployed in Vizhinjam.
Tharoor was faced with anger of the Latin Catholic Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram and the fishing community to extend support to Vizhinjam port.
“The ongoing dispute and related events at Vizhinjam is not a smooth affair. FIRs should not have been registered against the bishops. The fishermen are not against any development. They are also not anti-national,” Tharoor said.
The state government had earlier informed the Supreme Court that it had no objection deployment of central forces at the Vizhinjam port site, where construction has been halted for more than three months due to fishermen’s protests.
Meanwhile, the ripples created by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who has been in the limelight for quite some time due to his sudden interest in state politics, have refused to die down.
Hot on the heels of Kottayam District Congress Committee President Nattakam Suresh that the party was kept in the dark about Tharoor’s Youth Congress program in Erattupetta, Tharoor refuted the same. The program of the Youth Congress is scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m.
Speaking to reporters at the Thiruvananthapuram airport on his way to Kochi, Tharoor said his office had called the DCC president and informed him about his route. Tharoor recalled that the district committee of the Youth Congress in Kottayam had invited him to the programme.
Responding to senior Congress leader and party disciplinary committee chairman Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan’s remark that he would not attend the Erattupetta programme, Tharoor quipped, “Those leaders who are not interested in attending the program should not come. They can always watch the program live on YouTube.”
The three-time congressman recalled that he has been lecturing and attending seminars for the past 13 years. He did not hide his disappointment, saying that the last two months have been tumultuous.