Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has said that if the grand old party does not want him, he has other things to attend to. Tharoor, 68, a former diplomat and a fourth-time Member of Parliament, made the comment on a Malayalam-language podcast of The Indian Express.

“If the party wants me then I will be there for the party. If not, I have my own things to do. You should not think that I don't have any option to spend time. I have options. I have my books, speeches, invitations from across the world for talks,” he said on the podcast, called Varthamanam.

Rift with Congress
Tharoor’s rift with his party has grown in recent weeks over his praise for the Leftist government in his home state Kerala and criticism of the Congress, which has been out of power there for two consecutive terms.

An MP from Thiruvananthapuram since 2009, Tharoor raised eyebrows after praising the Left Democratic Front-led (LDF) Kerala government’s handling of the state economy in a newspaper article. Leaders of the LDF welcomed his comments which faced backlash from his own partymen. Tharoor later clarified that he was merely highlighting the state's progress in the startup sector.

He had also drawn criticism after praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with United States President Donald Trump. “We can't always speak only in terms of party interest. I am not a party spokesperson,” he later said in his defence.

‘Cannot win with current voter base’
In the abovementioned podcast, Tharoor also said the Congress needed to expand its voter base in Kerala to start winning elections.

“Both at the national and the state level, the Congress cannot win only with its committed vote base. It’s a reality. If you look at the national level, the Congress vote was around 19%. Would we be fine with our own vote base? Only if we get 26-27% additional can we come to power. So, we need those who have not backed us in the last two elections,” he said.