Tharoor's alleged links rock Kerala assembly

The Left opposition Thursday raised questions in Kerala assembly over Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor's alleged links with a Pakistani journalist.

Capitalizing on the allegations, legislator James Mathew asked during the question hour if the state government was aware of the minister's alleged links.

Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala responded and said, "These are only media reports and there have been no official clarifications on this."

The Left has already demanded that the death of Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar, who was found dead at a luxury hotel in Delhi early this month, be probed.

Soon after the issue was raised in the assembly, angry treasury bench legislators joined issue and tempers were seen running high.

The Left legislators also raised the issue of Tharoor being appointed as Congress's spokesperson, to which Speaker G. Karthikeyan said that it was a party's internal decision which need not figure in the house.

Chennithala said police is closely monitoring the social media (facebook and twitter) in the state and if there are any suspicious activities it will be referred to the central agencies.

Incidentally, the timing of raising the issue comes at a time when the junior minister arrived here Wednesday with his deceased wife's ashes which would be immersed at the Triveni Sangamam in Kanyakumari Friday.