New Delhi [India], February 28 (ANI): Ahead of the Congress' Kerala unit meeting with senior leadership, state party leader Ramesh Chennithala said that the meeting had been called for election preparations in the state.

He further stated that the meeting had been called by AICC to strengthen their presence.

'Whenever elections are about to be held in a state, AICC holds a meeting of the leaders. Elections will be held in Kerala next year. So, this meeting has been called for the election preparation...Congress in Kerala is strong. AICC has called today's meeting to further strengthen it..' Chennithala said speaking to ANI.

Party leader P.J. Kurien when questioned if party MP Shashi Tharoor would be present in the meeting said that he would certainly be present.

'I don't know. He (Shashi Tharoor) must certainly be there,' Kurien said speaking to ANI.

On the agenda of the meeting, Kuriejn said that it was being decided by the AICC.

'AICC is deciding it. I don't know, I have been called. I will attend it,' he said.

On February 26, Tharoor had said that a party meeting had been scheduled for which he would be present.

This comes amid reports that all was not well between him and the Congress party following the backlash from within the party on his recent apparent praise for Kerala Left Democratic Front (LDF) government's industrial policy and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tharoor refused to comment further on the subject.

'No comments at all,' said the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram as reporters accosted him at the New Delhi airport.

This follows an interview to the podcast for a leading newspaper published from New Delhi in its English edition, in which he noted that if the Congress did not try to expand its appeal, it would be sitting in opposition for the third consecutive time in Kerala.

Further, he was cited as saying that 'several workers feel that there is an absence of a leader in Kerala's Congress.'

He also said that he was elected as MP four times from Thiruvananthapuram and that if the Congress did not need his services, he had 'other options' including speaking tours and books.

Moreover, Tharoor shared a selfie with Union Minister Piyush Goyal and Britain's Secretary of State Jonathan Reynolds, which intensified buzz surrounding his remarks regarding Congress. (ANI)