Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 19 (IANS): Undettered by backlash from the top brass of the faction-ridden Congress in Kerala, three-time Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor will soon be calling on former party president Sonia Gandhi and her successor Mallikarjuna Kharge to brief them on the happenings in the party state unit.

Interestingly, the soaring popularity of the Thiruvananthapuram MP, has all his senior party colleagues setting aside their differences and uniting to take on him.

Subsequent to his contesting the party presidential polls against Kharge and losing it by a mile, Tharoor's popularity has shot up like never before and continues to surge.

Numerous invites, cutting across political affiliations and religious and socio-cultural groups from all across the state, coming his way bears testimony to his rising clout.

Sources close to him say that Tharoor is determined not to succumb to the pressure tactics of his colleagues and attend all possible programmes.

A media critic on condition of anonymity said that his senior colleagues will be left shaken when he decides to throw in his hat to get into the party's highest-decision making body.

"Given the strong opposition that he has from a huge majority of the senior party colleagues, a nomination to the Congress Working Committee is practically ruled out and then his option is to contest and it's going to be an acid test not just for him, but for those who oppose him, as both will be engaged in a fight to finish," saidA the critic.