Available for Congress but have ‘options’ if party doesn’t need me: Tharoor

New Delhi: Amid a row over his remarks praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government in Kerala, senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said he was available for the party, but warned he had “options” if it did not require his services.

Speaking at IE Malayalam podcast, Tharoor, however, refuted rumours of switching parties, saying he did not believe so even if there was a difference in opinions.

Tharoor’s remarks assumed significance as he earlier praised the Kerala government’s policies and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for meeting US President Donald Trump in the US, gestures which have not gone well with the Congress.

During the podcast interview, Tharoor reacted to the controversy and said he never thought of himself as a politician and that he had “narrow political thoughts”.

He called on the Congress to expand its base in Kerala to attract new voters and highlighted the absence of a leader in the party’s state unit.

The 67-year-old leader claimed that other Congress leaders backed him for his views that there was an absence of a leader in the party’s Kerala unit. He cited opinion polls conducted by independent organisations that showed him being ahead of others in leadership stakes in the state.

However, he refuted the rumours of any rift or him switching the parties. After the podcast, reporters accosted him at the New Delhi airport and asked about the same.