Indian Union Muslim League supremo Pankkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal on Wednesday came in support of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and termed him a ‘crowd puller’ amid a political controversy after Tharoor praised PM Modi’s U.S. visit and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in an article in a leading English daily.
“Tharoor is a crowd puller and he is still a Congressman. Tharoor has always effectively campaigned for the Congress-led UDF,” Thangal told media persons.
When asked if the Thursday meeting of the UDF will discuss the issue, he said, “We have elections around the corner and the need of the hour is for the UDF to strongly campaign for it. It is the responsibility of each ally in the UDF to strengthen the UDF,” said Thangal.
While several top state and national Congress leaders have expressed their displeasure about what Tharoor said, he was summoned by Rahul Gandhi for a private meeting.
Thangal, who heads the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is the second biggest ally of the Congress-led UDF and has close links with the Congress party high command.
The IUML strongly support Shashi Tharoor. He was the only leader outside IUML, who was also present after Thangal was named successor of Syed Hyder Ali Shihab Thangal.
Tharoor also was a key speaker at IUML’s pro-Palestine rally held at Malappuram in October 2023. Tharoor had urged Israel to end air strikes in Gaza and pointed out that India has always stood for peace since Mahatma Gandhi.
Tharoor’s speech and his presence had given a huge boost to the IUML rally back.
