THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday categorically stated that he would not accept an award named after VD Savarkar, nor attend a related event, even as a senior party colleague wanted the Congress MP to not accept any honour named after the ideologue whom he claimed "bowed before the British."
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has declined the "Veer Savarkar Award," saying he will not attend the event where it is to be presented, citing lack of clarity about the award and the organising body.
Tharoor, representing Thiruvananthapuram, added that it was “irresponsible” for the organisers to announce his name without his consent.
Earlier, Congress leader K Muraleedharan stated that no party member, including Tharoor, should accept an award in Veer Savarkar’s name, claiming Savarkar “bowed before the British.”
Muraleedharan said that he does not believe that Tharoor will accept the award as doing so would insult and embarrass the Congress party.
Tharoor later told reporters in the national capital that he heard about the award on Tuesday and that he was not going for the ceremony.
"I heard about it yesterday only. I am not going. I am not here," he said in response to a question on Wednesday on his participation in the award ceremony.
Subsequently, in a post on social media platform 'X', the Congress MP said, "In the absence of clarifications about the nature of the award, the organisation presenting it or any other contextual details, the question of my attending the event today or accepting the award does not arise."
He further said that he learned from media reports that he was named as a recipient of the award when he went to Kerala to vote in the local body polls on Tuesday.
He said he had clarified then that he was neither aware of, nor had accepted, such an award.
"Despite that, today in Delhi, some media outlets continue to ask the same question. Therefore, I am issuing this statement to clarify the matter unequivocally," Tharoor added.
Following Tharoor’s refusal, Aji Krishnan, secretary of the Highrange Rural Development Society (HRDS) India, which is presenting the award, told a TV channel that the Congress MP had been informed well in advance.
Krishnan said representatives of HRDS India and the award jury chairman had personally met Tharoor at his residence to invite him, and that the MP had requested a list of the other award recipients.
"We gave him the list. He has not yet informed us that he will not come for the event. Perhaps he is scared as the Congress has made it an issue," Krishnan claimed.
Kerala law minister P. Rajeev said that it was up to Tharoor to decide whether to accept the award.
Tharoor was selected as one of the recipients of the inaugural Veer Savarkar International Impact Award 2025, instituted by HRDS India, on Wednesday in New Delhi.
On Tuesday, he had said that he heard about the award through the media and that he was not aware who was giving it.
"I am not aware of anything related to the award. Let me find out what it is," he had said.
(With agency inputs)Get an chance to win ₹5000 Amazon Voucher by taking part in India's Biggest Habit Index! Take the survey here
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