Shashi Tharoor campaigns in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala
Union minister Shashi Tharoor has complained to the Election Commission against Left and BJP rivals who have allegedly used his wife Sunanda's death to target him while campaigning for next month's general election.
Mr Tharoor, 58, is fighting for re-election in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, the constituency from where he won his first election in 2009.
Based on his complaint, state officials have issued notice to CPI-M leader M Vijayakumar, who allegedly said at a public meeting on Tuesday that "Shashi Tharoor has a PhD in violence against women."
Mr Vijayakumar and CPI legislator VS Sunil Kumar, who reportedly called the Congress MP a "murderer" in a TV interview on Monday, have been asked to explain their remarks within 48 hours.
Mr Tharoor has also complained about "defamatory" hoardings by BJP's women activists showing him being beaten by women protesters.
"All these are examples of a sustained campaign of vilification and defamation by both the Left Democratic Front and the BJP, intended to portray me as someone who harms women, and using false stories about the tragic death of my wife to assassinate my character," he said in his complaint.
CPI-M veteran VS Achuthanandan also issued a statement today raising questions about Sunanda Tharoor's death, challenging Congress leaders like AK Antony to clarify why the police are not pursuing a criminal case against Mr Tharoor. "The people of Kerala want to know," he said.
52-year-old Sunanda was found dead at a five-star hotel in Delhi on January 17, days after a public spat with a woman she suspected was having an affair with Mr Tharoor.
An autopsy report found that she died of poisoning. Doctors who handled her post-mortem described her death as "sudden and unnatural" but the police are yet to confirm how she died, as a forensic report has not been released till now.
Under law, a magisterial inquiry is automatic if a woman dies within seven years of marriage.