India, Dec. 1 -- Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's currently complicated relationship with his party saw another chapter as a crucial session of Parliament began on Monday. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) member was absent yet again from a key party meeting on Sunday, on the eve of the winter session.

"I didn't skip it. I was on a plane coming from Kerala. That's all," was his succinct reply when asked about it outside Parliament.

The meeting was chaired by Sonia Gandhi and was convened to discuss the party's strategy for the session. The session started on a stormy note as the Congress-led Opposition is insisting on discussions on the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls and the issue of national security in th...