India's Maverick Diplomat-Politician Shashi Tharoor Inches Closer to Modi's Party

Speculation about his plans rife after his act of defiance against Congress party's leadership

- Ravi Velloor

It is no secret that India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi would welcome Dr Shashi Tharoor in his corner.

The affable Congress politician, an opposition stalwart with nationwide popularity exceeded perhaps only by a handful of public figures, including Mr Modi himself, would be an asset to any political party — especially one like the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose popularity suffered a hit in the last parliamentary polls.

In an increasingly polarised political landscape, the 69-year-old Dr Tharoor, a champion debater in his student days, retains the ability to win arguments without drawing blood. The young admire him for his looks, as well as his intellect. His colourful personal life — he has been married three times and was widowed in 2014 — remains a subject of popular fascination.

And his following on social media platform X exceeds 8.4 million. Even the globally respected and crisp-spoken Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar — Dr Tharoor's college contemporary — has fewer than half that number of followers.

To the BJP's delight, Dr Tharoor has also been frequently complimentary of Mr Modi despite their political divide — all to his party's evident discomfort.

And his recent move to accept the Modi government's offer to lead a non-partisan delegation to the Americas to explain India's toughening anti-terror stance in the wake of the Kashmir terror attack and subsequent India-Pakistan clash has come in defiance of the Gandhi family-dominated party leadership.

ONE RIVER, MANY TRIBUTARIES?

Congress' list of offered party figures for the global outreach had meaningfully excluded Dr Tharoor, despite his position as chairman of the parliamentary committee on external affairs.

And his acceptance of the government's direct offer has left his party fuming.