Chennai, Jan 15 (IANS): Senior Congress leader and MP from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, Dr. Shashi Tharoor has said that politicians have fanned up caste consciousness in the society.

He was speaking at a literary session of the Kerala Assembly Book Festivals on Sunday.

Tharoor said that when he became an MP for the first time, there was a complaint that his office was filled with people from the Nair community. He immediately ordered to include people from other castes into his office staff.

The senior Congress leader, who had contested for the Congress president's post against Mallikajun Kharge, said that this was a conscious decision to include people from other castes in his office staff.

The powerful Nair Service Society (NSS), the social organisation of the Nair community, had openly stated that Tharoor was the Prime Minister material.

The powerful general secretary of NSS, G.Sukumaran Nair while speaking at a public function stated that Tharoor was hailing from a 'Nair background with rich legacy'. He had also said that Tharoor was a global citizen and that the NSS was supportive of him.

There are rumblings in the Congress unit of Kerala over Tharoor, and several senior leaders have come out openly against him.