Shashi Tharoor Rejects Veer Savarkar Award, Organisers Say 'Perhaps He's Scared'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has firmly denied that he will accept the 'Veer Savarkar Award' or attend the ceremony in Delhi today, 10 December. He criticised the organisers for irresponsibly including his name among the six announced recipients without first seeking his consent.

The organisers, however, countered his claim. They insisted Tharoor was informed in advance, suggesting that“perhaps he is scared”.

Clarifying his stand, Shashi Tharoor posted on his social media handle (X):“I have come to know from media reports that I have been named a recipient of the 'Veer Savarkar Award,' which is to be presented today in Delhi.

“I only learned about this announcement yesterday in Kerala, where I had gone to vote in the local self-government elections. I had clarified that I was neither aware of, nor had accepted, such an award, and it was irresponsible on the part of the organisers to announce my name without my having agreed to receive it.”

The Congress leader continued,“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.”

'Not getting anything': Shashi Tharoor

The Congress MP later told reporters outside Parliament in New Delhi that he had heard about the award on Tuesday, 9 December, and that he would not be attending the ceremony.

“I heard about it yesterday only. I am not going. I am not here,” he said in response to a question on his participation in the award ceremony. Also Read | IndiGo meltdown: Shashi Tharoor backs DGCA, raps airline - 'They have let down the public'

Earlier in the day, Congress leader K Muraleedharan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that no party member, including Shashi Tharoor, should accept any award in the name of Veer Savarkar,“as he had bowed before the British”.

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Muraleedharan said that he does not believe that Tharoor will accept the award, as doing so would insult and embarrass the Congress party.

Tharoor was informed, perhaps he's scared: Organisers

As Shashi Tharoor called out the organisers, Aji Krishnan, the 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 about the award well in advance.

Krishnan claimed that representatives of HRDS India and the chairman of the award jury had met Shashi Tharoor at his residence to invite him, and 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 to the event. Perhaps he is scared as the Congress has made it an issue,” Krishnan claimed.

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