The disquiet in the Congress over Shashi Tharoor, evident from recent reports of Sonia Gandhi publicly reprimanding him, is revealing of its culture. Battered in the 2014 Lok Sabha election and yet to furnish electoral evidence of being on a comeback trail, the Congress still remains an organisation dogged by petty rivalries and suspicions.
Crab mentality dogs the Congress. It is jocularly said that Indian exporters ship crabs overseas in containers without lids. They know crabs won’t escape because whenever one of them crawls up the side of the container, the others will drag it down.
This has been, in many ways, the story of Tharoor in the Congress. He causes heartburn in the party because, for reasons good and bad, he is unable to stay out of the media spotlight which, the Congress culture demands, must remain trained on the Gandhis. But Tharoor doesn’t consciously court the media, particularly that which dabbles in the medium of English.
The English media have a natural affinity for Tharoor because of the cultural code they share, making them overlook his occasional display of pomposity. The elements constituting this code are his suave upper class background, his felicity with the English language, in which he intelligently articulates issues, the books he has written, and his successful career as a UN bureaucrat. He is a symbol of accomplishment for the urban, English-speaking crowd, which commands clout disproportionate to its number.
Intra-party competition
In the years the United Progressive Alliance was in power, the media-Tharoor tango wasn’t viewed unfavourably, not the least because ministers do arouse considerable curiosity. Nobody in the Congress minded his media exposure as Sonia Gandhi was the pivot of power – and, therefore, of intense media attention – and Rahul Gandhi insisted on remaining in the shadows. Since there were spoils of power to share, the competition in the party wasn’t cut-throat and rivalry was restrained.
Then his marriage was news, as were his comments, as was the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar in what were described as “mysterious circumstances”. In between these two episodes, he had to resign from the UPA cabinet over the IPL sweat equity controversy, but was subsequently re-assigned a portfolio. Few could have come out unscathed through all these travails without the media’s class bias.
The context has changed now. The Congress is in the Opposition and Rahul Gandhi is seemingly eager to lead. All Congress biggies must step aside from the media spotlight for Gandhi to bask in it. This is more so as the media time and space assigned to the Congress is limited, always the Opposition’s fate. And because the party isn’t in power the largesse to share has shrunk to a few posts and high-profile roles in the party. In the scramble to grab these roles, media coverage is an advantage.
This is precisely Tharoor’s problem – he has the knack of somehow creeping into the media arc light. Not always is it of his own accord. Let us admit it, he is often in the news because his intelligence shines through in the relative mediocrity of the Congress. Or perhaps his intelligence is taken note of because it is expressed through the country’s power language – English.
For instance, look at his robust participation in the social media. His witty, intelligent comments on Twitter create a buzz, win him a big “following”, and ensure permanent presence in the public consciousness. His twitter handle generates “retweets” in numbers astonishing for a man who doesn’t enjoy the stature of Rahul Gandhi nor is as provocative as Digvijay Singh. Tharoor has 3.26M followers, against Gandhi’s 135K, though the former did have the first mover’s advantage.
Considering that the Congress now wants to tap the energy of social media, you’d think Tharoor’s skills would be harnessed by the Congress for its outreach in the cyberspace. Think again.
Praised, but by Modi
This new tendency to portray Rahul Gandhi as the fountainhead of all wisdom, intelligence and initiatives can only explain his party’s muted response to Tharoor’s stellar performance in the recent Oxford University debate. The video clip of his presentation arguing that the British owed repatriations to India as its rule had been destructive went viral. Even his most vocal detractors lavished praise on Tharoor for marshalling arguments laced with sardonic humour.
The Congress should have fizzed with joy. It could have made the point that only a party such as the Congress could produce a Tharoor – nationalistic without being jingoist, critical of the colonial rule without hating the British. It is only in the Congress that accented English and khadi boli contribute to the riotous babble. But there wasn’t a squeal of delight from the Congress, unless it was done at a decibel to ensure the party leadership didn’t hear – and because of which the nation too missed it.
Can you then blame Prime Minister Narendra Modi for singling out Tharoor for fulsome praise on his performance in the Oxford University debate?
That is typical of Modi, forever roiling waters in other parties, Congress members would claim, oblivious of their own pettiness. Indeed, the flip side of rivalry is suspicion, which Tharoor through certain actions of his has also stoked. For instance, he accepted the prime minister’s invitation to publicly participate in the Clean India drive. That’s a no-no in India’s partisan politics, now undergoing a very sharp ideological divide.
In a culture where Congress members are not expected to deviate from the line propounded by the leadership, Tharoor surprised many by speaking out against the party’s continuing boycott of Parliament in a closed-door meeting. His objection found its way into the media, prompting Sonia Gandhi to tick him off for disclosing the details of the discussion.
There was no direct evidence of Tharoor having spoken to the media; the disclosure wasn’t attributed to him. It was what you could say was the conjecture of Sonia Gandhi, her guess or suspicion. Stung, Tharoor wrote a letter to her saying, “I would be rather quoted openly than leak. Leaking is the habit of conspirators and cowards. I am neither. Ever since my unwelcome intrusion into their space, however, I have been targeted by both.”
In Rahul Gandhi's shadow
Regardless of whether or not Tharoor is telling the truth, Mrs. Gandhi’s irritation makes it clear her party is neither welcoming of divergent opinions or expressions of difference with the leader’s line. Why else would she have been upset at the details of the meeting spilling out? This controversy belies Rahul Gandhi’s promise of turning the Congress into an open organisation.
Partly, suspicion about Tharoor’s motive arises from his vulnerability. Having misused investigating agencies for settling scores against its rivals or taming them to vote for it in Parliament in the past, the Congress fears the BJP can arm-twist Tharoor in the Pushkar death case. That in return for not linking him to her death, the BJP could compel him to embarrass the Congress. From this perspective, Tharoor is the BJP’s proverbial Trojan Horse in the Congress.
But there is also a counter-argument – the Trojan Horse can scarcely be useful if it is suspected to be one. It, therefore, makes little sense for Tharoor to oppose the leadership line in a party meeting and then out it, when his own motive is under the scanner. Nevertheless, anyone who has read Tharoor’s writings knows he is ideologically as different from the BJP as chalk is from cheese.
The irony is he also doesn’t fit into the Congress culture, despite being an erudite votary of the Nehruvian ideology. It is the culture which comes wrapped in crushed khadi, fakes simplicity, values platitudes and, above all, places great premium on diminution of its members to pygmy-size in comparison to the leader. Don’t think Tharoor is an incorrigible rebel. He too has, at times, gone over-the-top in cheering the Gandhis.
Tharoor’s problem, however, is he is simply unable to make himself less visible (or relatively invisible) in the public domain. He just can’t help being himself. He can’t help it if his tweets are zippier and smarter than those of the others. Or that he gets invited to speak at Oxford University and bursts the popularity chart. His innate talent can’t but shine. This is why Tharoor gets play quite astonishing for a person who is neither a regional satrap nor a veteran politician nor a caste/community leader.
Unless he learns to suppress his talent, or discovers the art of becoming invisible until ordered otherwise by the Congress leadership, Tharoor will find “conspirators and cowards” haunting him. He must fake mediocrity because that’s what the Congress desires of all its non-geriatric, bright members until such time Rahul Gandhi starts winning elections for the party.
Ajaz Ashraf is a journalist from Delhi. His novel, The Hour Before Dawn, published by HarperCollins, is available in bookstores.
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Crab mentality dogs the Congress. It is jocularly said that Indian exporters ship crabs overseas in containers without lids. They know crabs won’t escape because whenever one of them crawls up the side of the container, the others will drag it down.
This has been, in many ways, the story of Tharoor in the Congress. He causes heartburn in the party because, for reasons good and bad, he is unable to stay out of the media spotlight which, the Congress culture demands, must remain trained on the Gandhis. But Tharoor doesn’t consciously court the media, particularly that which dabbles in the medium of English.
The English media have a natural affinity for Tharoor because of the cultural code they share, making them overlook his occasional display of pomposity. The elements constituting this code are his suave upper class background, his felicity with the English language, in which he intelligently articulates issues, the books he has written, and his successful career as a UN bureaucrat. He is a symbol of accomplishment for the urban, English-speaking crowd, which commands clout disproportionate to its number.
Intra-party competition
In the years the United Progressive Alliance was in power, the media-Tharoor tango wasn’t viewed unfavourably, not the least because ministers do arouse considerable curiosity. Nobody in the Congress minded his media exposure as Sonia Gandhi was the pivot of power – and, therefore, of intense media attention – and Rahul Gandhi insisted on remaining in the shadows. Since there were spoils of power to share, the competition in the party wasn’t cut-throat and rivalry was restrained.
Then his marriage was news, as were his comments, as was the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar in what were described as “mysterious circumstances”. In between these two episodes, he had to resign from the UPA cabinet over the IPL sweat equity controversy, but was subsequently re-assigned a portfolio. Few could have come out unscathed through all these travails without the media’s class bias.
The context has changed now. The Congress is in the Opposition and Rahul Gandhi is seemingly eager to lead. All Congress biggies must step aside from the media spotlight for Gandhi to bask in it. This is more so as the media time and space assigned to the Congress is limited, always the Opposition’s fate. And because the party isn’t in power the largesse to share has shrunk to a few posts and high-profile roles in the party. In the scramble to grab these roles, media coverage is an advantage.
This is precisely Tharoor’s problem – he has the knack of somehow creeping into the media arc light. Not always is it of his own accord. Let us admit it, he is often in the news because his intelligence shines through in the relative mediocrity of the Congress. Or perhaps his intelligence is taken note of because it is expressed through the country’s power language – English.
For instance, look at his robust participation in the social media. His witty, intelligent comments on Twitter create a buzz, win him a big “following”, and ensure permanent presence in the public consciousness. His twitter handle generates “retweets” in numbers astonishing for a man who doesn’t enjoy the stature of Rahul Gandhi nor is as provocative as Digvijay Singh. Tharoor has 3.26M followers, against Gandhi’s 135K, though the former did have the first mover’s advantage.
Considering that the Congress now wants to tap the energy of social media, you’d think Tharoor’s skills would be harnessed by the Congress for its outreach in the cyberspace. Think again.
Praised, but by Modi
This new tendency to portray Rahul Gandhi as the fountainhead of all wisdom, intelligence and initiatives can only explain his party’s muted response to Tharoor’s stellar performance in the recent Oxford University debate. The video clip of his presentation arguing that the British owed repatriations to India as its rule had been destructive went viral. Even his most vocal detractors lavished praise on Tharoor for marshalling arguments laced with sardonic humour.
The Congress should have fizzed with joy. It could have made the point that only a party such as the Congress could produce a Tharoor – nationalistic without being jingoist, critical of the colonial rule without hating the British. It is only in the Congress that accented English and khadi boli contribute to the riotous babble. But there wasn’t a squeal of delight from the Congress, unless it was done at a decibel to ensure the party leadership didn’t hear – and because of which the nation too missed it.
Can you then blame Prime Minister Narendra Modi for singling out Tharoor for fulsome praise on his performance in the Oxford University debate?
That is typical of Modi, forever roiling waters in other parties, Congress members would claim, oblivious of their own pettiness. Indeed, the flip side of rivalry is suspicion, which Tharoor through certain actions of his has also stoked. For instance, he accepted the prime minister’s invitation to publicly participate in the Clean India drive. That’s a no-no in India’s partisan politics, now undergoing a very sharp ideological divide.
In a culture where Congress members are not expected to deviate from the line propounded by the leadership, Tharoor surprised many by speaking out against the party’s continuing boycott of Parliament in a closed-door meeting. His objection found its way into the media, prompting Sonia Gandhi to tick him off for disclosing the details of the discussion.
There was no direct evidence of Tharoor having spoken to the media; the disclosure wasn’t attributed to him. It was what you could say was the conjecture of Sonia Gandhi, her guess or suspicion. Stung, Tharoor wrote a letter to her saying, “I would be rather quoted openly than leak. Leaking is the habit of conspirators and cowards. I am neither. Ever since my unwelcome intrusion into their space, however, I have been targeted by both.”
In Rahul Gandhi's shadow
Regardless of whether or not Tharoor is telling the truth, Mrs. Gandhi’s irritation makes it clear her party is neither welcoming of divergent opinions or expressions of difference with the leader’s line. Why else would she have been upset at the details of the meeting spilling out? This controversy belies Rahul Gandhi’s promise of turning the Congress into an open organisation.
Partly, suspicion about Tharoor’s motive arises from his vulnerability. Having misused investigating agencies for settling scores against its rivals or taming them to vote for it in Parliament in the past, the Congress fears the BJP can arm-twist Tharoor in the Pushkar death case. That in return for not linking him to her death, the BJP could compel him to embarrass the Congress. From this perspective, Tharoor is the BJP’s proverbial Trojan Horse in the Congress.
But there is also a counter-argument – the Trojan Horse can scarcely be useful if it is suspected to be one. It, therefore, makes little sense for Tharoor to oppose the leadership line in a party meeting and then out it, when his own motive is under the scanner. Nevertheless, anyone who has read Tharoor’s writings knows he is ideologically as different from the BJP as chalk is from cheese.
The irony is he also doesn’t fit into the Congress culture, despite being an erudite votary of the Nehruvian ideology. It is the culture which comes wrapped in crushed khadi, fakes simplicity, values platitudes and, above all, places great premium on diminution of its members to pygmy-size in comparison to the leader. Don’t think Tharoor is an incorrigible rebel. He too has, at times, gone over-the-top in cheering the Gandhis.
Tharoor’s problem, however, is he is simply unable to make himself less visible (or relatively invisible) in the public domain. He just can’t help being himself. He can’t help it if his tweets are zippier and smarter than those of the others. Or that he gets invited to speak at Oxford University and bursts the popularity chart. His innate talent can’t but shine. This is why Tharoor gets play quite astonishing for a person who is neither a regional satrap nor a veteran politician nor a caste/community leader.
Unless he learns to suppress his talent, or discovers the art of becoming invisible until ordered otherwise by the Congress leadership, Tharoor will find “conspirators and cowards” haunting him. He must fake mediocrity because that’s what the Congress desires of all its non-geriatric, bright members until such time Rahul Gandhi starts winning elections for the party.
Ajaz Ashraf is a journalist from Delhi. His novel, The Hour Before Dawn, published by HarperCollins, is available in bookstores.