The Shashi Tharoor Factor: Bigger Than The Congress, Stronger Without It

Last Updated:May 29, 2025, 08:39 IST

Tharoor knows he cannot be fit into the Congress container so he might as well create a cult that helps him survive and swim, even if circumstances force him to leave the party

Shashi Tharoor’s unflinching defence of the government over Operation Sindoor has ensured his place in the annals of those who defied the Congress to be a nationalist. (PTI)

Shashi Tharoor is the likeliest of persons who can be seen at parties, surrounded by listeners, sipping wine and regaling the crowd with his one-liners and command over the English language. Today, the same Tharoor may not have given up partying but is at loggerheads with his own party and has now moved on to become one of the unlikeliest politicians and unlikeliest Congressmen.

Tharoor is everything the Congress hates—defiant, unwilling to align himself with party discipline, standing apart from the rest of his party colleagues in staying away from the “Jee Hazoori" [effusive praise] of the Gandhis.

Today, when you talk about nationalism, Tharoor’s name crops up prominently. Not that the Congress cares. But the BJP does and BJP also cares that the Congress does not care. This is why it’s loving it that the Grand Old Party is sparing no effort to take digs at the Thiruvananathapuram MP.

Those who think that Tharoor is floundering couldn’t be farther from the truth. When he joined politics and Congress in 2009, Tharoor worked hard at swimming with the tide. But, eventually, it was clear that he was more a man with his own mind and life who also was at the epicenter of controversies like when he called those sitting in economy class in an aircraft “cattle class". Or when he would skip party meetings as he had committed to some university speech. You would not see him walking beside Rahul Gandhi. In fact, he was more likely to be seen away from the rest of his party colleagues.

It came as no surprise that he “broke ranks" and signed the G-23 letter raising concerns over the functioning of the party. Or when he graciously accepted the announcement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make him one of the brand ambassadors of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

There is no doubt about the fact that Tharoor has carefully cultivated and worked upon an image for himself. He knows he cannot be fit into the Congress container so he might as well create a cult that helps him survive and swim, even if circumstances force him to leave Congress and active politics.

Tharoor has written multiple books on language, he writes and portrays himself as a devout Hindu, and has made ferocious comments as a nationalist, taking on the British and even US President Donald Trump.

But his unflinching defence of the government over Operation Sindoor, much to the chagrin of the Congress, has ensured his place in the annals of those who defied the Congress to be a nationalist. Today, Congress may have no space for Tharoor, but Tharoor will swim against all odds beyond the Grand Old Party. He has ensured a place for himself, which need not necessarily be a political one. Tharoor, the party man, may be minus a party, but he has coined a factor for himself—the Tharoor factor.

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News politics The Shashi Tharoor Factor: Bigger Than The Congress, Stronger Without It