ZEE JLF 2019: The paradoxical PM has proved me right, say Shashi Tharoor

The inimitable Shashi Tharoor, who stirred the hornet’s nest with his book The Paradoxical Prime Minister, on Thursday, admitted that he “could take people’s interest in unusual words and make a certain larger point,” recalling how he used the word “floccinaucinihilipilification” in a tweet last year to promote his book. 

In a conversation with Mihir Sharma, Opinion Editor for Business Standard, Tharoor shared some ebullient observations on life and language, while also engaging in unabashed discussions on legislation, loyalty, and legality. Taking a dig at PM Narendra Modi, Tharoor says the title of his book ‘Paradoxical Prime Minister’ is apt. 

“Initially,  Mr Modi was saying all the correct things. He was talking about sabka vikas, He was saying I will be a prime minister for all Indians, he was saying that constitution was my holy book and so on and on. So I said we not only have to welcome these statements but by welcoming them we are putting up a yardstick against which we will judge him in future. If I had criticized him even when he was saying the right things, it undermines our credibility to criticise him when he does a wrong thing,” Tharoor said.

Six months after PM Modi came to power, Tharoor said he started writing his book ‘Paradoxical Prime Minister’. “I was able to begin it with words, I told you so,” he said. 

“He says all these liberal things and makes all these pronouncements. But he rests for his own political importance for his electoral viability across the country on the most liberal elements in the Indian society,” the Congress leader said. “Unfortunately, Modi has spent the last four and a half year proving me right.”

Talking about ‘Tharoorism’, he said, “English language thing is kind of a joke. It is true that I’ve read widely and desperately over the years and applied somewhat my vocabulary, but I’m very conscious that one likes in order to be heard. The purpose of communication is to be understood. So there is no point in using a word that people don’t understand, unless there’s a particular reason that word is uttered.” He admitted that he didn’t realise that the word farrago would not be understood. “The search for the word farrago in India spiked. I have used that word since college days. Thereafter, I must admit that people started taking interest in the unusual words that I said.”   

Calling Lok Sabha election the battle for India, Tharoor said, “A party is a political vehicle, it’s a machine through which candidates are elected and it’s a battle of ideas. We need to educate voters. They’re voting for a person who’ll represent them as the member of parliament and then further decide the leader.”