There are moments in public life that reveal more about a leader than any speech or slogan. The selective invitation to the State Dinner is one such moment. The Leader of the Opposition, a constitutional pillar of our parliamentary system, is kept out. Yet an individual MP from the opposition finds his name on the list. This is not a lapse. This is a choice. And it reflects an approach to governance that treats national protocol like a private gathering. It diminishes the dignity of our institutions and sends a troubling message about how the government views the very idea of democratic balance.
Shashi Tharoor’s presence on that list stings for another reason. He once aspired to lead the Congress. He fought an internal election. He lost. That is the nature of democracy. But what followed has been a slow and steady estrangement from the very party that gave him his political life. The same party that offered him a Lok Sabha ticket four times from Thiruvananthapuram. The same party machinery that helped him win against Rajeev Chandrasekhar in 2024 by 16,077 votes. A victory built not on personal charisma alone, but on the platform, goodwill and resources of Congress in Kerala.
Yet the moment he secured his seat, he drifted. Not silently. Not gracefully. But with a pointed eagerness to praise the government he is meant to oppose, almost as if every compliment was a reminder to Congress of what they did not give him. What he could not win. He may not see it, but he is being used. The BJP does not need him for mass politics. They do not need him for Kerala. They need him for only humiliating Congress and maybe in the future for optics. An English speaking, globally acceptable figure who can be showcased abroad. Nothing more. Nothing less.
And what does he get in return? A place at a dinner table tonight. Perhaps later a Rajya Sabha seat if the winds favour him. Perhaps another ticket, which he may find very difficult to win on a BJP ticket from Kerala. A trade of loyalty for momentary relevance and power.
Politicians change sides. Some change ideology too. It is as old as politics itself. But what troubles me is something deeper. The willingness to wound the very party that created your public identity. To strike at it when it is at its weakest. To chip away at its morale because of an old grievance. That is not ambition. That is not reinvention. That is vengeance dressed as political sophistication.
And for a man who often speaks about principles and dignity, this descent feels painfully small
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