Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress' ambitious 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' from Kanyakumari to Kashmir can also achieve the objective of "Congress jodo" and help in its revival, senior leader Shashi Tharoor said on Tuesday amidst churning in the party triggered by dissent and exits.
Tharoor, who is said to be contemplating running for the post of Congress president, also expressed hope that many leaders would contest the upcoming elections, and stressed he has neither ruled himself in nor out. In an interview a day before the launch of the 3,570 km-long 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, Tharoor said, "The message is also that the Congress is the party that can unite India and if the public is sufficiently inspired by this message, it will indeed inaugurate the revival of the party."
Asked about former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and BJP's swipe that the party should undertake "Congress jodo" instead of "Bharat jodo," the Thiruvananthapuram MP said, "Ghulam Nabi Sahib is a respected elder and I do not wish to comment on his specific remarks."
"But I will say that the Bharat Jodo Yatra could also unite Congressmen and women across the country around our values and ideals as well as around service to the people, by raising issues that matter to the people and showing them that we are fighting for them," he said.
"Then it could be both 'Bharat Jodo' and 'Congress jodo'," Tharoor said. Tharoor was among the group of 23 leaders who wrote to party chief Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking large-scale organisational reforms.
Asked about the possibility of him running for the post of the Congress president, Tharoor said, "I have only welcomed the fact that an election will be held. I believe that is very good for the party."