Shashi Tharoor’s Candidacy – A Reality Check

The opinions in this write-up are just personal. The write-up doesn’t represent or endorse and is not against any political views or persons.


I know Shashi Tharoor only through “The Shashi Tharoor Column” in The Hindu, which I have really appreciated for I enjoy reading only a few articles like those. He was doing a good job in UN as an Under Secretary General, a post which is second to only The UN Secretary General, he was a candidate for the world’s officially the top most designation, The UN Secretary General, the race which he lost and of course now, he’s a candidate for the coming Parliamentary Elections.

I’m seeing a lot of people going gaga over the last part of the above para. A lot of people are even campaigning for him on the net, some even believe that he’s “The One” for “Change” (Obama Syndrome!!) and so on. But I really don’t understand why. What the heck? People or the ones who will vote in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency only will decide who should represent them in the Parliament. What is so exciting about this? I find nothing. And it’s not because I’m not from Thiruvananthapuram. But I feel that he has a real good chance of winning because the incumbent party has done everything which will help him. But I have a doubt whether he will remain unknown to the general public which may workout against him. So I feel it’s a 50-50.

One thing that disappoints me is that he’s a political party candidate, and not an independent. A party where one family decides whatever happens in the party, where all other leaders, except a few, who proved to be utter failures. I really admire our current PM though. He’s a bad ‘politician’ (in the current usage!), but he’s a good leader. The stature he enjoys as the real executive of this nation combined with his eventful tenure speak volumes. I admire Jairam Ramesh too. But almost all others, even the ones with good leadership qualities, finding solace under the dynasty rule doesn’t excite me much. So in such a party, what would be the degree of freedom Tharoor will enjoy, if he wins? I expect nothing from him in that case.

Now, is there a chance that he can work on his own? No way. I don’t find any possibility of the same. Even if he finds a stature in the party, can he rise over the petty party politics? Why do people think that he will make a difference? I don’t get it. Is it his educational qualifications? If you take educational qualification, even Varun Gandhi (I really feel sorry for him!!) studied in London School of Economics. Or his work experience? I don’t know. He’s really new to this way of working. He’s just a newcomer. He’s just another candidate and it’s just another gimmick by the century old party. The bottom line: It doesn’t excite much.

Even when I see the alumni from IIMs or IITs forming political parties and contesting in elections, I feel sad. I heard that one party formed in such way, was even split (Not confirmed!). Why can’t they contribute to the nation by taking steps by helping the bureaucracy, which is actually more corrupted than the political system? I’m not insisting on joining the same, which I don’t have the right to say, but by contributing in the policy-making by being part of the standing committees or the expert groups which give the much required inputs for the execution and functioning of various schemes by the Government. Or are they too hungry only for power (sometimes I feel so!)?

I really expected and expect similar kind of service from Tharoor too. I was really looking forward to such kind of role play in various sectors, especially Education sector, where Tharoor would have contributed much with his global exposure, also since he can’t work in UN now. I felt he would play a big role in that way. Now I feel really disappointed. But it's his personal choice, which is his right. He would have really thought and had taken this decision where he would have felt that he could contribute more. I respect that.

The firm which won the Corporate Governance award had to admit they were the “fraudest” within a year. They admitted they were corrupt. But how corrupt that judging committee which gave the award, would have been? I feel, they were much more corrupted than even the fraudster! Just a freaky thought! So how can one say that who’s corrupt or who’s not or who will be corrupted or who won’t be? Only time will tell. And I pray that Mr.Tharoor won’t fall into that trap.