New Delhi, February 27 CPI(M) leader John Brittas launched a fresh attack on Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday for his criticism of the LDF government in Kerala, saying while the latter claimed to be a politician of a "different kind", he chose to be "like any other Congressman" after his "ceasefire" with the party high command.
Brittas, a Rajya Sabha member from Kerala, shared a post by Tharoor in which the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram shared an interview questioning the "symbolic" name change from Kerala to ‘Keralam’.
On February 24, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal of the Kerala government to change the name of the state to ‘Keralam’.
The Kerala Assembly had passed a resolution on June 24, 2024, to alter the name of Kerala to 'Keralam'.
"Saab always claimed to be a politician of a different type – maybe after the ceasefire with the high command, he has chosen to be like any other Congressman,” Brittas said.
He also quoted an interview by Tharoor from February 2025, in which he had said, “Kerala is beginning to stand out as a model of economic innovation and sustainable growth.”
"But sure sir, if it brings anything good for you – I wouldn't remind you all these…” Brittas said.
Brittas had earlier attacked Tharoor over a post, in which the Congress leader asked what would happen to the terms "Keralite" and "Keralan" for the "denizens" of the new "Keralam".
A gentle glide from "Kerala" to "Keralam" will not trigger an identity extinction event, Brittas had said.
"Identity isn't a spelling test," Brittas had said in an X post.
Tagging the Thiruvananthapuram MP, Brittas had said he should "step away from the microbe-mineral anxiety”, quipping that the "rest of us continue to stay Malayalee/Mallu" as they had been for decades.
In a lighter vein, Tharoor had said that "Keralamite" sounds like a microbe and "Keralamian" like a rare earth mineral, adding that the Kerala chief minister's office might want to launch a competition for new terms resulting from this electoral zeal.
