Tharoor run out…but gathers fans along the way

He came, conquered the hearts of Keralites a year back only to stumble and fall due to his own indiscretions. Shashi Tharoor was the buzz of the town Monday, a day after he resigned as minister of state for external affairs, with some in this constituency upset and others confident he would bounce back.

Credited for bringing the Indian Premier League (IPL) team to Kochi, the Thiruvananthapuram MP stepped down Sunday night over allegations that he had “mentored” the Kochi IPL franchise that involved his Dubai-based friend Sunanda Pushkar getting sweat equity worth Rs.70 crore.

“Initially, my family felt he would survive the IPL fiasco, the way he survived all the issues created by his excessive tweeting. But, then we had doubts because of the allegations that surfaced about his friend Sunanda Pushkar. The moment the involvement of a lady surfaced, his downfall was certain,” said school teacher Shiny Benjamin.

Tharoor, a former high ranking UN diplomat who made a lateral entry into politics as Congress’ Lok Sabha MP, had Friday clarified that he had not misused his official position and his “mentoring” the Kerala consortium of the Kochi IPL franchise was “within the bounds of appropriate conduct”.

Biju Varghese, an engineer, said he developed a “strange” attachment to Tharoor the moment it became clear that he would contest from Thirunvananthapuram. “For some strange reason, I felt attached to him, may be because of his personality.”

“I was confident of his victory because many of us felt he is a cut above the usual run of the mill politicians and one who would do something different. And when he became a minister, our excitement increased. Tell me who else would have got Kerala an IPL team?” he asked.

“We are crestfallen that the Congress asked him to resign, but wait and see he will bounce back,” Varghese added.

Others, including those from his party, felt that Tharoor should have addressed grassroots problems.

“See, the problem with Tharoor was that he failed to connect well with the local party leaders who work at the grassroots. This setback will help him understand the nuances of how a Congress leader needs to behave,” said a Youth Congress activist on condition of anonymity.

Ernakulam Lok Sabha member and senior Congress leader K.P. Dhanapalan added: “If the party wanted, it could have asked him to continue, but our party thinks differently. There is no need for him to resign as Lok Sabha member. He can always return as a minister, if he comes out clean.”

Irrespective of what is in store for Tharoor, it is clear that he has won the hearts of many cricket lovers in Kerala looking forward to the next IPL season when their team would also be playing. Speculation has begun on greats like Brian Lara, Michael Clark and Lance Klusener joining the Kochi IPL team.

“I feel sorry for him. Just because he does not have the quality of a politician, who can always wriggle out of any situation by hook or by crook, he did not get the support from his own party,” said a cricket enthusiast and Kottayam businessman Babu Jacob.