The BJP's Dream Congress: A Global Outreach Irony

It takes a certain audacity, one might say Vedic chutzpah, to redefine your opponent in your own image.

- Ravi Shankar

When a government sends seven all-party delegations abroad to explain its anti-terror operations, you'd expect a display of muscular nationalism; perhaps a few generals, and a barrage of bullet-point briefings. It did dispatch ambassadors, but not diplomats; mostly curated politicians from across parties. The twist in the tail end? The BJP selected the best Congressmen the Congress didn't want to send. Shashi Tharoor, Salman Khurshid, and Manish Tewari.

Tharoor, an ex-UN diplomat and global literary and society darling, has more air miles than Jaishankar. Khurshid, a seasoned lawyer and diplomat, once helmed India's foreign ministry. Tewari, a national security wonk with a sharp legal mind, is among the few Congress MPs unafraid to speak truth to Il Familia. These men who have built reputations outside the echo chamber of the Gandhi goatshed will speak for India abroad.