Controversies dogged the Shashi Tharoor right from the word go

September 2009: Tharoor and SM Krishna were rapped for staying in 5-star hotels. Tharoor defended himself, saying his official residence was being renovated and that he was paying for his stay. The ministers were asked to move out of the hotel.

September 2009: A controversy arose after Tharoor, responding to the question as to whether he would travel in “Cattle Class”, replied that he would. After this remark on Twitter, the media claimed that Tharoor was taunting his party over its austerity drive. Tharoor met his party leadership and said it was a joke. The explanation was accepted.

December 2009: Tharoor publicly criticised the new visa guidelines adopted by the government in the wake of the gaps exposed by the arrest of 26/11 terror suspects David Headley and Tahawwur Rana. He was criticised for breaking ranks with the government’s official position. Tharoor met his boss, external affairs minister SM Krishna and explained his position on the issue. After this, the rules were partly modified.

January 2010: Tharoor was reported to have criticised Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru for their vision on Indian foreign policy by the media. This angered his party. Tharoor released a statement on his website which said, “Irresponsible reporting may briefly gratify a few sensation-seekers in the media, but they do no credit to the need for informed discussion of foreign policy issues. India deserves better. So, frankly, do I.”

February 2010: Tharoor, accompanying Manmohan Singh on a visit to Saudi Arabia said, “We feel Saudi Arabia has a long and close relationship with Pakistan, that makes Saudi Arabia an even more valuable interlocutor for us. When we tell them about our experience, Saudi Arabia listens as somebody who is not in any way an enemy of Pakistan, but a friend of Pakistan and, therefore, will listen with sympathy and concern to a matter of this nature.” The remark raised a strong reaction within the political circle. In response, Tharoor tweeted, “An interlocutor is someone you speak to. If I speak to you, you are my interlocutor. I mentioned the Saudis as our interlocutors, i.e. the people we are here to speak to”.

April 2010: IPL chief Lalit Modi published the shareholding details of Kochi-IPL team’s franchise owners, Rendezvous Sports, and said that he was asked by a minister to not get into details of Sunanda Pushkar who was given a sweat equity of 4.5% in Kochi IPL team. Tharoor denied having made any financial gains from the sale.