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This episode of Newstrack focusses on the deepening internal friction within the Congress party in Kerala ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
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00:00Good evening, you're watching NewsTrack with me, Maria Shaquille, as Kerala moves towards
00:06a high-stakes 2026 Assembly elections, deepening cracks inside the Congress are coming sharply
00:13into focus and at the centre of this is a Member of Parliament who is currently serving
00:18his fourth consecutive term from Triru Vanantpuram, Dr. Shashi Tharoor.
00:24He is not, or should I say, this is not a sudden fallout, viewers, it's a slow-burning rift.
00:30He has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the past and now, according to sources,
00:34he gave priority to the Prime Minister's Kerala visit over his own party's election meeting.
00:41Tharoor skipped the Congress High Command's Kerala strategy meet altogether, reportedly upset
00:47with both the party leadership over what is seen as lack of due respect by Rahul Gandhi.
00:55But with the BJP rising in urban Kerala, we have seen the complete upheaval which happened
01:01in Triru Vanantpuram Municipal Corporation elections.
01:06The big question is, can the Congress afford to alienate one of its most recognisable faces
01:12in this do-or-die battle for electoral survival?
01:16First up the story and then I bring in our big news maker from Kerala, Ramesh Chanitala.
01:32A four-time MP, a seasoned Congress face.
01:36Now, openly uncomfortable with the top brass.
01:42As Kerala heads towards the high-stakes 2026 battle, cracks are widening within the Congress.
01:49And this rift is not new.
01:52Tharoor versus the Grand Old Party.
01:56From praising the Prime Minister in the past to now sources suggesting
02:00he had to give precedence to the Prime Minister's Kerala visit over Congress' own poll meeting.
02:06He is reportedly miffed with both the state leadership and the central command.
02:13The flashpoint?
02:14The Kochi Maha Panchayat episode.
02:16Sources say protocol was breached, sitting was altered, speaker order changed at the last minute.
02:23And Rahul Gandhi did not publicly acknowledge Tharoor.
02:27Supporters say his seniority was ignored.
02:29But this friction goes back months.
02:33Recently in November, he praised LK Advani while wishing him on his birthday,
02:37forcing the Congress to distance itself.
02:40Earlier in August, he backed a bill allowing removal of PMs and CMs.
02:44Congress called it draconian.
02:46In July 2025, Tharoor called the emergency a dark chapter, drawing party criticism.
02:52Furthermore, there have been repeated movements where Tharoor praised Prime Minister himself.
02:59Now with Kerala a do-or-die election for the Congress, the question is stark.
03:05Can the party afford to sideline a leader, popularly known as Vishwapurran,
03:10a global citizen in the state, at a time when the BJP is rising in urban Kerala?
03:15Because in Kerala, this isn't just about ego.
03:45It's about electoral survival.
03:49Bureau Report, India Today.
03:56And joining me now is veteran Congress leader from Kerala, Mr. Ramesh Chenithala.
04:02Mr. Chenithala, thank you for speaking to India Today.
04:05We saw perhaps the most scathing attack yet by Prime Minister Modi
04:09against both the LDF and the UDF.
04:12Are we then looking at Kerala's first truly three-cornered fight in 2026?
04:18Not at all.
04:23There is no BJP in Kerala.
04:25They had won a corporation, that's all.
04:28That is a...
04:29And in the Lok Sabha and the Assembly,
04:34they have not opened their account till now.
04:36Only once Mr. O. Rajagopar, he was a senior political leader in Kerala,
04:41has got elected in the name of BJP.
04:45After that, they had not won any election in the Assembly or Parliament.
04:49So, this time also, I don't feel that BJP will not play any major role in the Kerala Assembly election.
04:56You say that BJP won't play a major role.
04:59BJP isn't a factor.
05:00But only a month ago, the BJP won the Thiruvananthpuram Corporation polls,
05:05which was certainly historic.
05:07Are you not worried that a resurgent BJP will make this a left versus right battle
05:13and the Congress then stands to lose out on the anti-incumbency votes?
05:17See that Congress is going to win this Assembly election with a good margin.
05:26Look at the Parliament election.
05:28We won 18 out of 20 seats.
05:31And also, in all the by-elections, Congress-led UDF has won the election.
05:37And in the recently concluded Panjshayat election, UDF has got a spectacular victory.
05:46And BJP only got the, it became the largest party in the Thiruvananthpuram Corporation.
05:54That's all.
05:56And they are not won any of the district Panjshayat.
06:00Only one district Panjshayat, they got a member.
06:02One member in the district Panjshayat.
06:04And last time when they won two municipal parties, that also they lost.
06:09So, I don't think that BJP will be a factor in the ensuing Assembly elections.
06:15Okay.
06:15So, let's talk about what's happening within the Congress party.
06:19And this is with regards to the state Congress, the state Kerala Congress.
06:23How do you, or what should I ask you, what do you make of your party colleague and Thiruvananthpuram MP,
06:31Mr. Tharoor's decision to skip such a critical party meeting,
06:35which was attended by all of you, including you, because you are joining me from Delhi.
06:42Mr. Shashi Tharoor had a program in Calicut.
06:48It's a Kerala literary forum program.
06:52He has fixed it much earlier.
06:54That is why he couldn't attend this today's important meeting.
06:58He has already told all of us.
07:00And there is no confusion.
07:02Okay.
07:03He is a Congress MP.
07:06He continued to do that.
07:08He was in our camp in Wainar for the last two days.
07:13And he attended the meeting of Sri Rahul Gandhi in Cochin.
07:19So, he is a part and parcel of Congress party.
07:22There is no confusion for all of us.
07:25Okay.
07:25So, you say that he is part and parcel, that there is no issue whatsoever.
07:30But the question is, can the Congress afford to leave Dr. Tharoor disgruntled,
07:36particularly at a time when the state is going to polls, in less than two months perhaps?
07:44See that Mr. Tharoor, Tharoor is a full-time member of Congress party.
07:48We have full faith on him.
07:49But he is, you know, he is not a full-time politician.
07:54He has got his own opinion on various issues.
07:57But basically, he is a congressman and he adhered to the principles of Congress party.
08:05Mr. Chanitana, you are a dyed-in-the-wool Congress leader.
08:08Can the internal factionalism damage the Congress prospects?
08:13Is there a fear in the Congress, within the Congress?
08:16No, we are not, you know, Congress party never projected anybody as a chief minister, can't it?
08:24Here in Kerala also, we are not going to project anybody.
08:28After the election, the party high command will decide the chief minister.
08:33So, that is our system, which we are following for a long time.
08:37This time also, we will continue to do that.
08:39I think that the people of Kerala will be going to give us a decisive mandate in the ensuing assembly election.
08:49Okay, so, you are saying that the Congress won't announce Dr. Tharoor or anyone as the chief ministerial candidate ahead of the poll, sir?
08:58Correct me.
08:58No, no, no, no, no.
09:02You know that it is a practice that in the Congress parties that we will not announce any chief ministerial candidate much in advance.
09:14This is our tradition.
09:16So, in this case also, in Kerala, we are not going to announce anybody as a chief ministerial candidate.
09:22Yes, there are so many important leaders in Kerala, but we are not going to announce anybody.
09:27Okay, my last question to you, Mr. Chanetala, how are you looking at this battle for 2026?
09:32How will it, how tough is it for the Congress, for your party?
09:39At 2026, without no doubt, I can tell you that the Congress-led UDF will form the government in Trivandrum in Kerala with a comfortable majority.
09:50Because if you see this track record of last five years, we won all the by-elections, except one, which is always having with CPM.
10:00And we won the parliament election, and also we won the, we won, we had a spectacular victory in the last Panjaita election, which never happened, only once in 2010.
10:14So, all these election victories are confirming our victory in the assembly election in 2026.
10:24All right, Ramesh Chanetala, I appreciate your time.
10:29Thank you for joining us here on India Today.
10:32Let me bring in Shahzad Poonawala, National Spokesperson of the BJP.
10:36Also joining me shortly would be Sanjay Jha, Political Analyst.
10:39Shahzad Poonawala, Ramesh Chanetala, who's a senior Congress leader,
10:44has certainly said that Mr. Tharoor had taken the permission from the Congress leadership,
10:51and that's the reason why he was not there in the meeting today.
10:55Then why is the BJP fishing in troubled waters?
10:59When, or should I say there are no troubled waters at all?
11:03You're hoping for trouble?
11:04There was no trouble between DK Shiv Kumar and Siddhra Maiya.
11:11There was no trouble between Sukhu Ji and Pratiba Singh Ji.
11:15There was no trouble between DKS and Siddha.
11:18There was no trouble between Amrinder Singh Ji and Siddhu Ji.
11:21There was no trouble between Gayloth and Pilate Ji.
11:24There was no trouble between Gayloth and Pilate Ji.
11:26All is well.
11:27But only thing, Maria, you know, I come prepared with my facts.
11:30You have to do the Raja Di Poonawarosa, you have to do the 9 o'clock anchor.
11:34Tharoor admits to rift with Congress on Rajdeep Sardesai's show, 19 June 2025.
11:39Chalye, India Today group pe bhi bharosa ho ga hi, Maria, aapko.
11:4226 February 2025, exclusive report of India Today, Shashi Tharoor exploring options.
11:48Anyway, Maria, you have to do the work.
11:51I have been in Congress.
11:52So I'll just give you two things from what I know about Congress.
11:55Congress, and particularly Rahul Gandhi, can't stand anybody who puts nation first.
11:59So when Shashi Tharoor put nation first in Operation Sindhu,
12:02and when he wished LK Advani Ji, that time only Congress started abusing him, sidelining
12:08him, to the extent that Mr. Muddhi Dharan of the Kerala Congress said that we will not
12:12invite him for any party events.
12:14I wish Sanjay Jha was here because all these facts are important for him to know, because
12:17he lives in another Delulu.
12:19But now, second point, Maria, the extent of the division in Congress is so high.
12:23And take it from me, I have hundreds of people in Congress who report to me or tell me every
12:28day that even Rahul and Priyanka...
12:31Sanjay Jha has joined us.
12:32So yes, let's put him on the screen as well.
12:34Yes, please go ahead.
12:35Please put him on the screen.
12:36I hope he has not missed the barrage of facts of Muddhi Dharan Rajdeep and India Today that
12:40I have quoted.
12:41But having said that, just last two points.
12:44The fight is so intense between Rahul and Priyanka camps that someday Imran Masood says
12:50this and he sacked from the Congress.
12:55But I have one proposal.
12:56Sanjay Jha, who's in suspended animation from a long time, Maria, I propose India Today
13:01to make a board of peace headed by Sanjay Jha and he can get all the warring factions
13:07of Congress on that board of peace.
13:10And they all have to contribute 100 rupees.
13:12They will not have one billion dollars, etc.
13:14So they will contribute 100 rupees.
13:17Sanjay Jha will be the chairman of board of peace.
13:19One side, there will be Mr. Shashi Tharoor.
13:22Other side, there will be Mr. Muddhi Dharan.
13:25One side, there will be DKS.
13:27Other side, there will be Sidhar Mahiya.
13:29So I propose this from my age.
13:32Jha, do you want to respond to that?
13:35You know, the fact is that Dr. Tharoor is the most recognizable face of the Congress
13:40party in Kerala.
13:42And why is the Congress leadership not ready to give him a responsibility that he is ready
13:48for?
13:49Well, Maria, good evening to you and to my friend Shahzad.
13:53Shahzad has been a friend of mine once upon a time.
13:56And now he comes on TV shows and gets...
13:59No, you get very acrimonious.
14:00You can be friends, you know, despite being in opposite parties.
14:03Well, if I can just finish, I believe there are times he gets insufferably acrimonious and
14:10bitter.
14:11He was never like that.
14:13And I'm going to just tell him because he's spoken rather candidly on your program.
14:17I do think that he's at heart a decent man in a terribly lousy, toxic political party.
14:23He's a misfit there.
14:25And at some point, I think the Congress will come back.
14:28And if I know Shahzad Puna will, he will return as well.
14:31So, Shahzad, I'm just putting it out in the public space.
14:34You are a misfit in the BJP.
14:36I think you're force fitting yourself into a party that is blatantly bigot, bigotry at
14:42its core.
14:44And I don't think...
14:44Hey, Baba, you fit Tharoor in your party.
14:46Forget my fitting.
14:47No, I wanted to, Maria, put this at the very beginning.
14:50No, no, I wanted to put this at the very beginning because, Shahzad, I have been with you on public
14:55platforms and you were more critical of Mr. Modi and Shah than I was.
15:00But anyway, Maria, let's go back to Sashi's issue.
15:02I think as far as Sashi's issue is concerned, it's not very complicated.
15:06There are two aspects here.
15:08Number one, that Sashi has always been an extraordinary parliamentarian.
15:13You will agree with me, even Puna Wala will agree with me, that end of day where Sashi is
15:19concerned, he's an intellectual heavyweight, he's academically brilliant, he's an outstanding
15:25speaker, and he's probably one of India's best exports in soft power.
15:30Now, the truth is, he would be a misfit in any political party.
15:34Now, I can tell you, I have been part of the Congress.
15:36Shahzad has been part of the Congress.
15:38And Sashi is part of the Congress.
15:41And in any political party where there is a person who is quite a distinctive outlier,
15:46you will find there will always be chronic and, I would say, recurring issues where somebody
15:52will say, you're not doing the party line.
15:54For all the reasons that you just mentioned, of his, you know, the sheer stature of Dr.
16:00Shashi Tharoor, shouldn't the Congress value him more?
16:03Well, you know, let me tell you something that I have been in politics for a long time.
16:09And I know that the Congress got very upset with me when I called a spade a spade and
16:13I wrote an article in the Times of India.
16:15Now, I haven't carried any bitterness about it in my heart.
16:19A lot of people ask me, why didn't you shift?
16:22And why haven't you been, you know, overtly or covertly hostile?
16:26And I told myself, hang on, I'm ideologically compatible with the party from A to Z.
16:33And, Maria, there are misunderstandings that happen.
16:36I believe given the structure or the Congress parties overall, I wouldn't say they're illiberal.
16:41They're very conservative.
16:43And therefore, they found my conversations probably breaching a certain protocol.
16:49I don't agree with it.
16:50I wouldn't do that.
16:51But the party thought it appropriate.
16:52That's their call.
16:53Now, my simple answer is where Shashi is concerned.
16:56I think Shashi and Congress are just going through this phase.
17:00And I think it happens in many relationships as well, where I can't do with you and I can't
17:05do without you.
17:06And I think that's a simple problem.
17:08And this is really something that we have seen Prime Minister actually do in other states
17:13as well.
17:14Beyond politics, Prime Minister Modi actually waited and personally received a Kerala Chief
17:18Minister on stage at the program today.
17:21We are putting out those visuals.
17:23So, you know, for all the criticism that we have seen, Prime Minister waiting for Kerala
17:28Chief Minister and receiving him at this stage, something which is about cooperative federalism,
17:35something which is certainly a good tradition in Indian politics.
17:38Just look at those visuals.
17:40You know, amidst the political war, this is what we are seeing, a heartfelt gesture where
17:46the Prime Minister goes out to welcome Pinaray Vijayan, the Chief Minister.
17:51And we have seen that outreach happen at multiple levels as well.
17:55So, you know, Shahzad Poonawalla, we have seen multiple states where there is a lot of anguish,
18:03particularly in the run-up to the elections.
18:05What happens, say, in other states, number of states, I'm not going to name them.
18:10But here is a very welcome gesture, something that we see not much, but something which Prime
18:18Minister Modi in particular always extends.
18:19But, Maria, why are you surprised?
18:22And since you cover the government and you cover politics so deeply, you would know that
18:27the only government to give the Bharat Ratna or the Pradma awards to political rivals has
18:32been the BJP.
18:34In fact, whether it's Mulayam Singh Yadav Ji, whether it's Tarun Gogoi Ji, whether it's
18:37SC Jameer Ji, in fact, then you have Congress, which did not even give the proper Bharat Ratna
18:43to Ambedkar Ji or to Sardar Patel Ji on time.
18:46And here we have given it to people like Narsimha Rao Ji, who was not our Prime Minister
18:50or our party's Prime Minister.
18:52So, therefore, this is the difference between the two.
18:54Now, I am very glad that my dear elder brother Sanjay Jha, who himself has not been able
18:58to fit back into Congress, despite taking the Congress's stand so much, is worried about
19:03me being misfit in BJP.
19:05But, Sanjay, forget about my fitting and misfitting.
19:07I have only two limited questions.
19:09You have extolled Shashi Taruriya said, brilliant, academic, best, soft power export.
19:15But, Sandeep Dixit has said he's irrelevant.
19:18In the show's package, Sandeep Dixit has said he's irrelevant.
19:23Secondly, Mr. Jha has said that this is outlier.
19:25No, Mr. Jha.
19:27Anybody who has talent, merit and puts nation or party before the Pariwaad, they get the
19:33same fate.
19:34You take your own example.
19:35You put party before Pariwaad, you suspend, Abhidi suspend.
19:38I put party before Pariwaad, I was thrown out.
19:42Shashi Tharoor puts nation before Pariwaad, he's abused and heckled.
19:46And series of leaders who have been treated like this.
19:49So, Sanjay, this is not outlier.
19:51This is how Congress's Kabila mindset operates.
19:54And therefore, I request you with folded hands, a board of peace bana do.
19:57And then you can probably have peace between the warring factions.
20:01Now, Rahul and Priyanka also had war.
20:03So, you have to take peace to them also.
20:05So, who will solve this problem?
20:08You know, Maria, let me tell you, I think there is no denying that when the party has
20:12not been faring well in elections, setbacks happen, you know, many people have left the
20:17party.
20:18Nobody's going to deny it.
20:19I'm not living in a fool's paradise.
20:21Neither are you, neither is Shahzad.
20:23When you're winning, everything looks good.
20:24When you're struggling, you know, the problems just kind of magnify or get amplified.
20:29I think the Congress, yes, has a challenge.
20:31It needs to get its good flock back together.
20:34He needs to fight as a unit.
20:36I'm not going to deny that.
20:37But where Kerala and Sashi is concerned, please do try and understand this one point.
20:42That when you have a man who is coming from a state where he's won four MP elections back
20:48to back, he's been remarkably electorally a massive asset for the Congress party through
20:54difficult times.
20:55So, Sanjay Jha, you and Shahzad Poonawala are in complete agreement here.
21:00Yeah, but I want to make a point here where Kerala is concerned.
21:03Shahzad, just one sec.
21:04Where Kerala is concerned, the Congress knows it is batting on a front foot.
21:08The Congress, I believe, has a great opportunity to win the same battle.
21:11You know, every time the Congress has that kind of confidence, we saw that play out also
21:15in Haryana, where the Congress thought that they are just there at the power.
21:21Just, you know, one more shot and they'll be at the power.
21:24And we saw the results.
21:24So, whenever we are overconfident, we have seen what happens, because it is internal divisions
21:29which play out.
21:31No, no, I agree with you.
21:32I was going to mention that, actually, that the Congress should not be complacent given
21:37the adverse, surprising setbacks it received over the course of the last year.
21:42So, my simple point would be that there are enough stakeholders looking for a share of
21:46the pie in Kerala.
21:48Sashi is one of them.
21:50It's competitive.
21:50And, therefore, to that extent, it's going to be a problem of plenty, but the Congress
21:55will have to handle it intelligently.
21:56I agree with that.
21:58Okay.
21:58Just one last.
21:59Khiazad Poonawala, go ahead.
22:01See, Sanjay is trying his best, but he's being as candid and honest, and I appreciate that.
22:06But, Sanjay, when Tharoorji was on the stage in this Maha Panchayat, where this Maha Youth
22:10happened, Rahul Gandhi did not take his name, and Rahul Gandhi shook hands with everybody,
22:16but did not shake hands with him.
22:17Now, the only reason to trigger this is two.
22:20One, that Mr. Shashi Tharoor had recently wished LK Advani Ji, and then he had said that
22:25Prime Minister of any country or foreign policy should be respected, because it's India's
22:29foreign policy, India's Prime Minister.
22:30And, secondly, he had contradicted what Rahul Gandhi was spewing lies about Operation Sindhu.
22:34Now, whatever may be the case, in political and public life, imagine that you even have
22:39a difference with me, you will still acknowledge me.
22:42Here, as a four-time MP, you are giving him so many adjectives.
22:46And Rahul Gandhi, this petty-minded person, does not even shake his hand and take his name.
22:51And this is Tharoor, who has considerable following amongst the middle class and various sections
22:56of society.
22:56Well, I can tell you one thing, Shahzad, and to Maria and to the viewers of your program,
23:02that I think there's enormous respect.
23:04I don't think Shashi really needs any kind of, shall we say, buttressing of his credentials
23:10by anybody, not even anybody in the Congress Party.
23:14I think the bottom line is simply this.
23:15And I saw that stage encounter that you're talking about.
23:18Rahul and actually, Shashi did make eye contact.
23:21And, Shahzad, let me also tell you that you know it.
23:24I mean, when you go on a public platform where there are, you know, senior people in politics,
23:29everyone is trying to kind of elbow the other person for a little attention and a handshake
23:34and a photo.
23:35I don't attach, for some reason, personally, I don't attach too much importance to that.
23:40Seriously.
23:41Sanjay, we certainly know that that's not how it happens, particularly with senior leaders.
23:46And here is a senior leader with whom Rahul Gandhi has had disagreement.
23:52The Congress was pretty public about the fact that they do not want Dr. Tharoor to lead
23:58a delegation which went, all-party delegations which went to multiple countries after Operation
24:04Sindhu's success.
24:05So, you know, there has been disagreements and those disagreements have been playing out
24:08in full public view.
24:10But the bigger challenge for the Congress Party is that can they afford these rumblings
24:15to have, particularly in the run-up to the election, an election that is as crucial for
24:21their own survival in Kerala?
24:23That's the big question.
24:24Perhaps the Congress must answer that.
24:26So, thank you for joining us, Shahzad Poonawala and Sanjay Jha on this broadcast.
24:31That's all from me.
24:33We are putting this out on our website and also on the YouTube channel.
24:37Thanks so much for watching.
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