Open to public debate between Cong prez poll candidates: Tharoor

New Delhi: Set for an electoral face-off with Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge for the party president's post, Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said he would be open to the idea of a public debate between the candidates as it would evoke people's interest in the party similar to the recent British Conservative Party leadership race.

Asked about Tharoor's remarks on holding a debate, Kharge, however, did not appear inclined towards having such an engagement, saying, "I don't want to get into that, I only know how to work, give me an opportunity to do that."

In an interview, Tharoor also said the Nehru-Gandhi family has held and will always hold a special place in the hearts of Congress party members.

He said the answer to the Congress' current challenges lies in a combination of effective leadership and organisational reforms.

Kharge and Tharoor were left in the fray in the Congress presidential poll after former Jharkhand minister K N Tripathi's nomination was rejected on Saturday.

Talking about what he brings to the table, Tharoor has he has a "proven and credible track record in leading at the highest levels of organisations, whether it has been at the UN" or more recently for the Congress party as founder-chairman of the All-India Professionals' Congress.

At the UN, Tharoor said, "as the under-secretary-general in-charge of the body's public information department, I managed the communications of the UN's largest department comprising of over 800 staff in 77 offices worldwide, rationalised its structure, trimmed its budget and sharpened its efforts all of which prompted many to urge me to contest to lead the UN Organisation

itself".