Thiruvananthapuram: Shashi Tharoor, a Congress MP, appears to be siding with the party's position on the Kerala semi-high-speed rail project. Tharoor was claimed to have told Kerala opposition leader V D Satheesan of the Congress that he agreed with the party's objection to the proposed rail project. Tharoor had previously stated that he needed more time to research the proposal before objecting to it.

Satheesan informed reporters that he had conveyed the reasons for Congress' opposition to the project to Tharoor. The idea had been thoroughly studied by the United Democratic Front, which is governed by Congress. Tharoor was also given a copy of the report. Following that, he stated that he, too, agreed with the reasons for the Congress' opposition to the proposal.

Tharoor had already embarrassed Congress by refusing to sign a memorandum opposing the project given by Congress MLAs to the federal railway minister. He insisted that he needed to concentrate on the assignment. Later, Tharoor backed Vijayan and CPI(M) leaders' development ideas.

Many senior leaders have criticised Tharoor's stance, with Kerala PCC president K Sudhakaran even suggesting that Tharoor should leave the party if he did not accept the party's line.

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