Not a CM probable; ideally post should go to elected MLA: Shashi Tharoor

New Delhi: Ahead of the Kerala Assembly polls, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said he is not a chief ministerial probable as he is not a candidate in the election and believes that ideally the CM should be picked from among the elected MLAs. In an exclusive interview, Tharoor said since he is not a candidate, he does not have to worry about one particular constituency and that his role in the state polls is a "mixed bag". He added that he is looking forward to going "up and down the length and breadth of the state" to campaign. Tharoor also referred to former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's advice to UDF leaders recently in which he metaphorically asked them to "dance together", and said it was a "good message" to give and now "everyone is dancing together". Tharoor also said that while he would be happy with a majority, a figure between 85-100 seats would be good for the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the 140-member assembly.

Using cricketing analogy, Tharoor said the UDF is bowling "googlies" particularly to the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) because "they are on a sticky wicket and we can catch them on that". The MP from Thiruvananthapuram also said that with elections becoming more and more presidential in nature, he personally favours projecting a probable CM face ahead of the polls, but in Kerala, the Congress has the ability to deliver results not around an individual face or a name but around an agenda, a mission and the party logo. Asked whether not having a face in the campaign could affect the Congress' chances with LDF, which has the definite face of incumbent CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Tharoor said, "Personally I tend to agree with what you've said in the sense that we could have gone that route but as was pointed out to me by the party leadership, the Congress has never done that. "They have chosen to take the approach that the election is for a party and once the party has won, it will choose its leader, which means in effect, the high command, having consulted the elected MLAs, will choose a leader," he said. "You and I may have a different view. In my own case, I have been watching the evolution of elections in our country and even though we are a parliamentary system on the face of it, in practice, all parties are run presidentially and all elections are conducted in that way. So for there to be a situation where you don't have a visible leader in a state inevitably tends to hurt you. "But having said all of that, the Congress has a wide footprint in the state, it has deep resonance right across Kerala, it has presence in every mohalla, every village, every ward and that gives the Congress the ability to deliver results not around an individual face or a name but around an agenda, around a mission and around the party logo," Tharoor said.

To a pointed question as to whether he is a CM probable, Tharoor said, "No and not (a CM probable) for all sorts of good reasons, including the fact that I am not a candidate and I think that ideally the CM should be picked from one of the elected MLAs." He said Congress leaders were taken aback by "the very early" poll date of April 9, considering that under the Constitution, the Kerala Assembly only needs to sit on May 23, which means voting could have been anytime up to May 8. "It is quite shocking that it is happening on April 9, especially since the announcement itself was much later on March 15. So basically, the Election Commission has given us about three weeks of campaigning. Most parties have not even announced their full slate of candidates. The nominations have to come in by Monday and suddenly, you are going to have these nominated candidates having to face the electorate on April 9," Tharoor said. He alleged that it seems that, at the face of it, this was almost designed to favour the incumbent governments of the CPM in Kerala, the BJP in Assam, the local party in Puducherry, which are the three states that are voting on April 9. Exuding confidence of a UDF victory, Tharoor said there is 10 years of anti-incumbency against the LDF government, "its spectacular failures, financial crises, corruption scandals, and all sorts of issues" that have turned voters off the present government. On whether all his issues had been resolved after his meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi a few weeks ago, Tharoor said, "My issues are essentially irrelevant to the state. I am not a candidate in the state election. It was more a question of being part of the team effort and I am very much part of the team effort. In fact, I am co-chair of the campaign committee."

Talking about his role in these elections, Tharoor said, "On the campaign committee, I have been joining the other members in regular online meetings even while I have been attending Parliament. I am abandoning the last couple of weeks of the Parliament session and I am travelling to Kerala this weekend, right up to voting day, and I expect to hit all 14 districts." "But in the very limited time available, the much more ambitious schemes I had in mind would have to be truncated, as there is only so much time in a day. But I am hoping particularly to reach out to youth, professionals, special interest groups and of course do as many general public events, press conferences and all of that. It is a mixed bag of a role but because I don't have to worry about one particular constituency, I should be up and down the length and breadth of the state," Tharoor said. Noting that the recent visit of Rahul Gandhi to Kerala was a good one, Tharoor said the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha made a memorable speech in Thiruvananthapuram. "He (Gandhi) said that 'Kerala dances are very attractive and I think all Kerala leaders need to dance together', which was I think was a good message to give and I think everyone is dancing together," Tharoor said. "In all politics, there are bound to be some people pursuing specific interests, having specific ego issues. No one can deny these things exist in politics. And not only in our party but in all parties. Having said that, we are determined that this result has to be different from the last two (assembly polls)," he said.