THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Shashi Tharoor MP has come forward with an explanation on his article praising the state government. He clarified that as an MP, he only explained the growth in the startup sector in Kerala in the article. Tharoor added that the late former chief minister Oommen Chandy was behind the launch of the startup mission in the state. His explanation was via his Facebook page.

Tharoor had explained in an article about the good business environment created by the Pinarayi government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US. With this, state leaders filed a complaint against him with the high command. AICC organizational general secretary K C Venugopal also publicly disowned Tharoor. Tharoor has come forward with another explanation after the incident sparked a controversy.

Tharoor's FB post
The controversy over my article in the Indian Express was a bit of a surprise. I wrote this article on a specific topic as an MP from Kerala. The change in the business environment seen through the growth of the startup sector is just that– I as a congressman take this opportunity to proudly say that it was initiated by former chief minister Oommen Chandy.

These things have developed on the basis of his launching of the Startup Village and the state’s Startup Mission. The present government has taken it forward naturally. However, my article is not an attempt to assess the complete economic condition of Kerala. As I have said many times, Kerala is still in a major economic crisis-- including high unemployment, especially the emigration of educated youth abroad, a crisis in the agricultural sector (in sectors such as rubber, cashew, rubber), and the highest debt burden in history. All these will take a long time to resolve. However, when we see a promising change in a sector somewhere, it would be a small thing not to acknowledge it. The basis for writing my article is the Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2024; My communication is based on figures and information from it.

One last request is Please comment only after reading the article! There is nothing about party politics in it, I am talking about what Kerala needs to do to come out of the economic crisis. I have said many times about the economic progress of Kerala in the last 16 years.