Writing on wall? Congress likely to show Tharoor the door

NEW DELHI: Faced with the tough task of getting the finance bill passed in Parliament, Congress now wants junior minister Shashi Tharoor to see the writing on the wall instead of delaying the inevitable.

Though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not have any meeting with his party colleagues after a long flight from Brasilia, Congress sources said allowing Tharoor to stay on would mean conceding the moral high ground to the BJP.

"This is the first full-blown case of taint in the six years of UPA rule," remarked a party functionary. He explained that apart from the 'deal' awarded to Tharoor's friend Sunanda by the promoters of the Kochi IPL team, a more serious allegation of conflict of interest is haunting him.

The Congress top leadership reckons that Tharoor's continuation as minister would create an extremely difficult situation for the government in Parliament particularly when the opposition has already threatened to move cut motions against the demands of grant.

The party managers are of the view that cushioning Tharoor in the middle of a snowballing controversy would amount to jeopardizing the fate of some of the proposed legislations.

The PM is likely to meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Sunday to discuss the the Tharoor issue. The junior minister in the foreign office may also call on Singh to give his side of the story. Singh's remark to journalists that "there are ups and downs in politics" has been interpreted as a commentary on Tharoor's apparent fall from the grace.

What the Congress leadership is worried about at the moment is the prospect of more revelation about Tharoor's role in 'mentoring' the Kochi side. Already a UAE angle has been added to the ongoing controversy seeking to link Sheikh Naif, a cricket promoter in UAE, to the Kochi team. The big question at the moment is whether the Congress leadership forces

Tharoor to quit before Parliament meets on Monday or waits for some more time.