Shashi Tharoor on LDF: When the man of words' silence might have been golden

Shashi Tharoor is never lost for words. In fact, one would worry if the Congress leader and Kerala MP from Thiruvananthapuram (my hometown), doesn’t have an opinion on any subject matter known to mankind.

But just once, Tharoor would have been better off not saying – or writing - anything. Case in point, his decision to talk up the prospects of small and mid-sized businesses in Kerala. Nothing wrong with that on the face of it, but Tharoor gives implicit praise to the LDF government that’s been holding power in Kerala for 8 years now.

Other Congress leaders, big and small, aren’t the sort to take any praise for the opposite camp lightly. And they all weighed in to have their two minutes of screen time on various TV channels denouncing Tharoor, who then came up with a few robust responses of his own. (In one, he even touched – in passing - upon his original column being in English – you get the drift of what he may have been hinting.)

The crisis seems to have ended with an obligatory meeting Tharoor was called in for by Rahul Gandhi. But all that this issue has managed to do is diminish Tharoor’s chances when the 2026 Kerala state elections come up. As for Kerala and its denizens, whether they vote for Congress or not, it’s entirely their loss if Tharoor doesn’t have a say in state politics. Even be a part of the next government if the UDF returns to power.

Because there can be no denying what Tharoor in government might have been able to achieve. Forget being the CM, even a stint as Finance Minister or Industries Minister would have done a world of good to Kerala. (Tharoor has broadly hinted he would not fight another election to be an MP.) 

If he doesn’t get to be in any of these roles in a future Congress-led Kerala government, it won’t just be a personal tragedy for Tharoor – every other Keralite might have reason to feel the same.