What Next for Shashi Tharoor?
Will the Congress expel Shashi Tharoor? The Congress leader and former Undersecretary General, United Nations was one of our most articulate faces defending India globally during Operation Sindoor.
His was one of the most sought after voices in the western media, with whom he has his own equation both during his stint in the UN as well as his standing as a well known author. What added heft to his interviews was his comprehensive articulation of India’s stand.
While this has been appreciated by the government, his own party has not taken too kindly to his defence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, even though what Tharoor was doing was essentially defending his country. As he told NewsX in an interview, he was not speaking as a Congressman but as an Indian and the views expressed were his own.
The Congress seems to agree with this observation. Unfortunately, this episode has given Tharoor’s detractors within the party, especially from his home state, to target him. In this context, it must be mentioned that Tharoor is at odds with K.C. Venugopal, the all powerful general secretary, for both of them belong to Kerala and see themselves as chief ministerial aspirants when the state goes to the polls next year.
Added to this mix is some more headquarter politics for another general secretary (overseeing communications). Jairam Ramesh has sensed an opportunity to score some points with Venugopal and has been making pointed comments about those who crossed the Lakshman Rekha. Since he was speaking during the Congress Working Committee about those who spoke out of turn during the Indo-Pak conflict, the reference was quite obviously to Tharoor.
Now that the problem has been identified and articulated, the question remains—what will the Congress party do with Shashi Tharoor? For he has (quite rightly) gauged that keeping quiet is not going to get him anywhere. Speaking up, on the other hand, may take him places, even if they are across the other side of the political divide.
Cabinet Reshuffle?
The one item that has been sitting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s in-tray for a while now is an impending Cabinet reshuffle. However, this is linked to the announcement of the new BJP chief, as a headquarters reshuffle will naturally follow this appointment.
This will be the right opportunity for Narendra Modi to do a comprehensive re-allocation of his team, both within the government and in the party. We were told that the new BJP chief would be in place by the end of April, but that was deferred due to the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor. Now, with some sort of a ceasefire in place, will the Prime Minister attend to some housekeeping chores before the next Parliament session?
