Tharoor cheered, hooted in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Local MP Shashi Tharoor, who landed in his constituency here on Saturday for the first time since having to give up his post of minister of state for external affairs, was cheered by a large number of supporters, while his opponents shouted slogans demanding his resignation as MP.

Tharoor did not have a formal meeting with media persons here, apparently on directions from the Congress party bosses, but attended a meeting at the district Congress committee where he expressed happiness about the support he continued to get after the allegations against him in the IPL controversy.

Tharoor insisted that he had "done nothing wrong" and that he was sure no one would believe the allegations made about his role in the IPL-related controversy. However, supporters of the All India Youth Front waved black flags and demanded that he quit from his post of MP.

Tharoor explained to fellow Congressmen that his only intention was to promote the cause of the state and his constituency and that everything he had done, from attempting to twin Barcelona and Thiruvananthapuram, to trying to win an IPL franchise for Kochi was with this intention.

He said he had sought an inquiry into the whole episode, because "my integrity is precious to me", and that he had had a blemishless record through three decades of work in the United Nations.

Meanwhile, posters appeared in the city, supporting and attacking Tharoor. While some posters praised the MP for his attempt to put Kerala in the limelight, others decried his association with Sunanda Pushkar, who is associated with the IPL Kochi franchisee.