Caste has become an instrument of political rallying: Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Caste has become an instrument of political mobilizations, said Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday. "In fact, political parties are responsible for spreading caste consciousness in society," he said.
Tharoor was speaking on the influence of castes in politics during the Q&A session, organized as part of the book festival being held within the state assembly premises. Political parties are even selecting candidates for elections based on their castes, and this is done to convey a message to the people and influence them, said Tharoor. "This is why a candidate from a particular community is selected for a particular constituency. It is understood that the candidate has been carefully selected to please the community which has a dominance in that constituency," he added.
Tharoor said he faced severe criticisms when he appointed staff in his office. "There was a complaint that I purposefully selected only Nairs as employees in my office. Hence, I had to appoint employees from other castes as well. These are the difficulties which we are facing now in Kerala while selecting an employee in our offices," he said.
Tharoor's recent visits to meet various religious and community leaders had triggered a debate in political circles. He first met the Panakkad family and later, the IUML leadership. He was invited by NSS leadership to Changanassery, and had also met Orthodox church leaders at Devalokam.
He also met Muslim religious leaders in Kozhikode recently. All these visits were not planned by the party and hence triggered a debate over Tharoor pitching himself for the chief ministerial candidate in the next assembly elections. The mission to meet community and religious leaders was seen as Tharoor's attempt to garner support.