'Tharoor was invited to campaign for...Nilambur bypoll': Congress rebuts MP
What's the story
The Congress party's Kerala unit chief, Sunny Joseph, has refuted Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor's claims of not being invited to campaign for the Nilambur Assembly by-election.
Joseph said Tharoor's name was on the official list of star campaigners submitted to the Election Commission.
"We had officially published the list and submitted it to the Election Commission," he said.
Campaign absence
Tharoor said he was never asked to join Nilambur campaign
A day earlier, Tharoor, a four-time Thiruvananthapuram MP, had said he was never asked to join the Nilambur campaign.
He was abroad for most of the campaign period on an official diplomatic tour.
"When I came back there was no insistence, no missed call from the leadership saying I should come," he said, while wishing success for Congress's candidate Aryadan Shoukath in Nilambur.
Party differences
Tharoor admits to having some differences with the party
Tharoor has admitted to having some differences with the party but said he would discuss them privately when approached by someone from the party.
In particular, he has faced criticism within Congress for his remarks praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his diplomatic tour.
The Nilambur by-election was necessitated after two-time MLA PV Anvar, previously supported by the Left, switched allegiance to the Congress party.