Shashi Tharoor has opted out of Congress's campaign in Gujarat for the coming month after being reportedly excluded from the party's list of star campaigners, reports NDTV.
Quoting sources, the report added that Tharoor refused to go to Gujarat for campaigning after being invited by the party's student body. Tharoor was "never on the star campaigners' list earlier", party sources said.
According to media reports, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Gujarat Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Bhagel are on the list of 40-star campaigners. The Congress has also included Kerala leader Ramesh Chennithala, former chief ministers Digvijaya Singh, Kamal Nath, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Ashok Chavan in the campaign.
However, Rahul Gandhi has not campaigned either in Gujarat, which is slated to vote on December 1 and 5, or Himachal Pradesh, which voted on November 12, due to his engagement in Bharat Jodo Yatra.
This comes a month after Tharoor was defeated by Kharge in a direct contest for the top post in the grand old party after the Gandhis opted out of the race.
