January 22, 2014
NEW DELHI: Congress came out in defence of Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday saying there is "no question" of his resignation and virtually snubbed its ally NCP which had said he must dissociate himself from his ministerial duties till probe into the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar is over.
January 22, 2014
NEW DELHI: Congress came out in defence of Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday saying there is "no question" of his resignation and virtually snubbed its ally NCP which had said he must dissociate himself from his ministerial duties till probe into the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar is over.
"This could be personal opinion of NCP leader DP Tripathi … We are not the conscience keeper of NCP. Tharoor is in a responsible ministerial position. He is also an inseparable part of Congress. There is no question of his resignation," party spokesman Randip Surjewala said at the AICC briefing.
Maintaining that no personal allegations have been levelled by anyone over this unfortunate incident, the Congress spokesman emphasised, "Neither any individual, any party or organization are insinuating vis-a-vis the alleged suicide or the alleged murder of Sunanda. When there is no charge and nobody is alleging any role of Tharoor, why should he resign."
He was responding to questions on NCP spokesman DP Tripathi's view, that the NCP thinks that Tharoor will himself disassociate from his ministerial responsibility till the investigation is over and that this was needed according to principle of propriety as the issue is serious.
Tripathi had at the same time made it clear that he was not demanding that Tharoor step down as a minister.
The NCP leader also dismissed suggestions that his demand was due to compulsions of the politics of Kerala where the NCP is part of the opposition Left Democratic Front.
Reports earlier had it that BJP's Kerala unit demanded the resignation of Tharoor from the Union ministry in the backdrop of the death of his wife. Tharoor is a Lok Sabha member from Thiruvananthapuram.
The Congress spokesman said that a magisterial inquiry into the episode has already been ordered and truth will come out. He also said that it was Tharoor, who had written to home minister Sushilkumar Shinde for expeditious inquiry into the matter.
52-year-old Sunanda was found dead in a 5-star hotel in south Delhi on Friday night, a day after her twitter spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar over an alleged affair with Tharoor.
Sunanda's son says his mother couldn't commit suicide
Meanwhile, rubbishing various speculation surrounding his mother Sunanda Pushkar's death, her son Shiv Menon on Wednesday said she was "too strong" to commit suicide and died due to an unfortunate combination of media stress, tensions and a wrong mix of different medication.
21-year-old Menon, Sunanda's son from a previous marriage, said both Shashi Tharoor and his mother were "very much in love" despite their "occasional differences" and that he did not believe that the Union minister was capable of harming her physically.
"What the media reports have been alleging and implying in regard to my mother's death is not just untrue, its outrageous. Anyone who knew my mother would simply know that she was too strong to commit suicide," he said in a statement.
"I also do not believe that Shashi was capable of physically harming her, let alone the speculation that he could have taken her life," he said.
52-year-old Sunanda was found dead in a 5-star hotel in South Delhi on Friday night, a day after her twitter spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar over an alleged affair with Tharoor.
"It was an unfortunate combination of media stress, tensions and a wrong mix of different medication. Her death was peaceful, she passed in her sleep. Please let her soul rest, I think there has been enough attention drawn towards her life," Menon said.
The subdivisional magistrate probing the case yesterday directed police to investigate murder or suicide angles in Sunanda's death after the autopsy pin-pointed "poisoning" as the reason for her demise.
SDM Alok Sharma has given this directive to the police after considering the autopsy report which mentioned over a dozen injury marks on both her hands as well as a minor bruise on her left cheek which could be due to use of "blunt force".
However, the report ruled out death due to these injuries.
The SDM, who had recorded the statement of Sunanda's brother, son, Tharoor and his staff, said that no family member suspected any foul play in the death.
Couresty: PTI
