What will be the road ahead for Shashi Tharoor?

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor (File Photo)

The long-awaited result for the election of the Congress President was declared on October 19, and, as expected, there were no surprises. Eighty-year-old Mallikarjun Kharge, dubbed as the “unofficial official candidate”, and a personal choice of the Gandhi family, won a landslide victory, polling close to 8,000 votes. On the other hand, the suave and articulate Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor got a little over 1,000 votes.

On the face of it, these electoral figures suggest that Kharge was a clear favourite, while Tharoor failed to find favour with the party delegates. However, all is not lost for Tharoor, especially if the number of votes he polled are compared with far senior leaders such as Sharad Pawar, Rajesh Pilot, and Jitendra Prasad who took on the official presidential candidates in the past but polled far lesser votes. If a thousand-odd party delegates of a total of 9,000-odd voters preferred Tharoor over Kharge, it can be assumed that he enjoyed the support of many more Congress delegates who are looking for a change from the leadership of the Gandhis. But they decided to play safe for fear of inviting the wrath of the ‘official’ camp.

There is also no doubt that Tharoor’s enthusiastic and hectic campaign has raised his profile not just outside the party, but also among Congress members for whom he was, so far, a distant figure. A large number of party workers had barely heard of him. As his party colleague and former Lok Sabha MP Sandeep Dikshit said in a recent interview, Tharoor may be viewed as an anglophile elite, but he has emerged as a role model for the youth who are aspiring to better their lives and improve their prospects.

Though this should provide some consolation to Tharoor, a big question mark hangs over his immediate future in the Congress. Will he be seen as a dissident who challenged the Gandhi family’s choice for the Congress presidency? Will he be viewed with suspicion following murmurs both within and outside the Congress that Tharoor would prove to be a worthy prime ministerial candidate? Will Tharoor fall by the wayside or will the leadership take note of his capabilities and assign him a bigger role in the party?

All these questions will be answered in the coming days after Kharge takes on his new responsibilities as Congress President, and puts together his own team of office bearers. Undoubtedly, Kharge faces numerous challenges, and among the many tasks he has to undertake is to decide on a role for Tharoor.

The first big test for Tharoor will be the constitution of the new Congress Working Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body. If Kharge’s younger challenger finds a place in this coveted panel, it will send out a clear signal that the party values Tharoor’s services, and wants to make best use of his talent in the task of reviving the party. More importantly, it will indicate that his participation in the Congress President election is not seen as an act of defiance.

On the flip side, it would be interesting to see if Tharoor will contest the election for the working committee’s membership if he is not nominated to the body. Giving in to the clamour for internal polls, the party has decided to hold elections for 12 positions in the working committee. The remaining 12 members of the 25-member-body are nominated by the Congress President. Will Tharoor be up for another contest?

Alternatively, there is talk in the Congress that the party would benefit by appointing Tharoor party leader in the Lok Sabha in place of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Tharoor, it is being pointed out, is far better equipped to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He has the ability to marshal facts and present a cogent and convincing case to counter the BJP’s argument. Chowdhury’s poor articulation in Hindi has often landed the Congress in unnecessary controversies, which divert attention from far more urgent issues.

Either way, the Congress establishment may find it difficult to ignore Tharoor. The former UN diplomat, who took to the rough and tumble of Indian politics and won three Lok Sabha elections, has built a constituency for himself outside the party. He is particularly popular with the youth, making it a point to connect with them as he criss-crosses the country to participate in various events. Now Congress members are also better acquainted with Tharoor.

It would be unfortunate if the Congress, especially the Gandhis, choses to marginalise Tharoor merely because he decided to battle it out against the ‘official’ nominee in the presidential election. It would be incorrect to dub Tharoor a rebel. Given his exposure to western democracies, Tharoor, a strong votary for internal democracy in the Congress, essentially viewed the party election in the same light as the face-off witnessed between leading candidates in the United Kingdom and the United States of America’s political parties where candidates slug it out publicly for the leadership position.

But the Congress can hardly be compared to Britain’s Labour or Conservative Party. Members of the Nehru-Gandhi family have dominated the leadership position for decades now, and the result of an election for the party President’s position was a foregone conclusion. Having been at the receiving end for promoting dynasty rule, the Gandhi family decided to stay away from the electoral fray this time, but it is no secret that Kharge was their choice for the party chief’s post.

As for Tharoor, after projecting himself as a candidate ‘standing for change’ as compared to ‘continuity’ represented by Kharge, he has to necessarily contend with status quo.