Speculations are rife about Shashi Tharoor’s future in the Congress, with whispers growing louder that he may be on his way out. In a recent interview, he hinted at his dissatisfaction with the importance accorded to him by the party leadership and declared that he was prepared to leave if the Congress no longer wanted his services.
This comes at a politically inopportune moment, just ahead of civic body elections and with the State Assembly polls looming on the horizon. If anything, his remarks amount to a self-goal, weakening an already fractured party. His praise for the LDF government’s startup policy and his comments on the Trump-Modi meeting in Washington have only added fuel to the fire, further alienating him from his own camp.
But then, Tharoor was never a conventional politician. He did not climb the party ranks through grassroots work or agitations. Instead, he parachuted into the Congress, courtesy of Dr Manmohan Singh and the high command, who found in him an articulate, urbane, and globally recognised face.
His debut in electoral politics was aided by his oratorical skills, intellectual image, and personal charisma, but let’s not forget the crucial role played by the fishermen’s community of Thiruvananthapuram in securing his victory over BJP’s O. Rajagopal. As a minister of state in the UPA government, Tharoor’s tenure was hardly memorable.
Worse, his political naivety landed him in controversy, leading to his resignation. Tharoor takes credit for persuading Gautam Adani to invest in the Vizhinjam deep-sea port, a move that many argue came at the cost of the fishing community’s interests.
Tharoor’s ambition extends far beyond Thiruvananthapuram. His bid for the Congress presidency was an attempt to project himself as a national leader, but his loss to Mallikarjun Kharge underscored the reality that flamboyance alone does not guarantee political success. He seems to have set his sights on the chief minister’s post in Kerala.
True, he enjoys a fan following across the state, arguably more than any other state leader. His colleagues in the Congress, despite their inability to match his eloquence, have spent decades in the trenches, leading protests, going to jail, and engaging in public service. Tharoor, on the other hand, prefers the company of authors and thesaurus enthusiasts.
His statement on the Trump-Modi meeting, despite no clear evidence of its great benefit to India, appears to be an attempt to curry favour with the establishment. Though he has ruled out joining the BJP, history is full of Congress leaders who eventually found solace in Hindutva. Where Tharoor is headed, only time will tell. But one thing is certain: politics, like literature, has its own twists and turns, and Shashi Tharoor may yet have a few chapters left in his story.
