On Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor has certain leanings that could be seen as being Hindu Nationalist or soft version of it, yet it seems to me that he has accidentally found himself in the Congress Party. It's a party that doesn't really suit him well. Especially as someone who is outspoken as he is.

I don't really find a whole lot of substance in what he says to be honest, although he is pretty well spoken. I think he speaks a lot, and says it well, but when you boil it down, it's really quite boring. This has been my experience. The only thing I enjoy watching is seeing him actually try to defend the record of the Congress Party, which he does well but albeit sheepishly. It's clear at least to me that he is often put into a position where he has to defend the Congress Party and sound moderately reasonable while doing it, and its obvious by how it appears, that it's not very easy for him. There is a little bit of integrity lost there and he is aware of it.

His popularity is largely due, in my opinion, by the way he presents himself. He is good looking, long hair, light skin, colored eyes, with a thick Stephenian Accent. He styles himself as a global liberal, and Indian Liberals are easily fancied by that. It's all well and good to have all those things, but I find what he says to be less impressive, which inevitably leads one to question if people like him only because of the way he looks. Certainly there are people who are more in the thick of things in India, saying much more vital things, talking about vital issues than he is, yet he enjoys such prominence. 

He has been disciplined quite often by his own party quite publicly, and it seems that he learned his lesson and has to remain within the confines of what is acceptable to say. I find this to be the most disappointing aspect about him at the moment. Maybe he wouldn't fit in well with the BJP either, but he could at least protect his dignity by running as an independent. There are many instances where I could easily seem him aligning with the BJP on certain issues and certain issues where he could be equally opposing to him. In a way the party has abridged his freedoms, and thus denied India of degree of democracy that could be had with a strong independent voice.