Soon after Madhya Pradesh leader Jyotiraditya Scindia tendered his resignation on March 10, speculations of other Congress leaders such as Shashi Tharoor started making the rounds.
A Twitter user, Drunk Journalist, named two Congress leaders who he said will soon jump ship. "My next two bets who will be joining BJP soon 1) Milind Deora 2) Shashi Tharoor," the user’s tweet said.
Not being amused by the specualtion, Tharoor, who represents Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram in the Lok Sabha, hit back.
"If you were sober, @drunkjournalist, you wouldn’t have my name on your list," Tharoor’s replied.
Hours later, a Malayalam news website carried a story speculating that Tharoor would follow Scindia's suit. In another tweet, he quoted the report and said: "Not amused by the silly speculation about my joining @BJP4India. I entered politics not as a careerist but to advance principles I have articulated for nearly four decades. Check my paper trail! My record speaks for itself. I’ve never been an opportunist & won’t start now."
In a major development in Madhya Pradesh on March 10, 22 MLAs resigned from their posts after Jyotiraditya Scindia quit Congress. "It is time for me to move on now," Scindia said in his resignation that he submitted to party president Sonia Gandhi.
Their resignations have triggered a crisis in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly as the Congress that won 114 of the 220 seats in Assembly, now have to face the floor test. With 22 ministers likely to join the BJP, its strength could shoot up to 131 in the state Assembly.