In this episode of 'Editorial', Mr. Sujit Nair speaks on the friction between the grand old Congress party and its veteran leader & Lok Sabha Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram Dr. Shashi Tharoor. Hinting at quitting the party, Tharoor had recently expressed that he has been sidelined in the party and has other options if the party doesn't need him.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
[00:00:00] Namaskar! Welcome to another episode of editorial. They say Shashi Tharoor may leave Congress. Shashi Tharoor may quit Congress. Is it a subject of national importance? No, it is not. But you know what? I want to look at this entire situation from a human resources perspective, from a leadership perspective, from a management perspective.
[00:00:32] That will be interesting. Let's get right into the show. So like I said, Shashi Tharoor may quit Congress. That is what a lot of people say. He may, he may not. Let's start with that.
[00:00:51] So there is this gentleman called Shashi Tharoor who is a senior management in this organization called Congress. He is a senior manager. Now Shashi Tharoor is a very very popular senior manager. He is into a lot of extracurricular activities in his organization and in the market that he operates in.
[00:01:19] Lot of extracurricular activities. So he is a popular gentleman. He is seen as a very intelligent person. And he has the gift of the gab which he uses for himself a lot. This is what Shashi Tharoor is. Now Shashi Tharoor has gone up to his HR head and said that listen you know HR head, tell your boss, I don't want to work with you.
[00:01:47] I don't want to continue with this organization. I have given everything to this organization. I am a popular man. You know what? Not only you, even your competitors are kind of friendly to me. Are kind of very close to me. You know why? Because I am a popular man.
[00:02:03] So he goes to the HR person and says that listen, I know I think I want to look at options. And I have various options. And when he said I have various options, he didn't say that I am going to go and jump and join the competitor. That is not what he said. He said listen, you know I may not want to do what I am doing. I may not want to do politics. I may want to write. I may want to script. I may want to do other things. I don't want to do.
[00:02:32] I may want to lecture. I don't want to do politics. So I have options. So if you don't find enough good role for me, no, then I am getting frustrated. Baba, I am leaving. This is what he went and told his HR. Now, the fact is if you look at it from an outsider's perspective, there is a lot of fact in what he said.
[00:02:59] What he is saying is Baba, he has not been promoted the way he should have been. He has not been given importance the way he should have been. He is a very intelligent man. Was he used for all his intelligence, for all the intelligence that he has, the knowledge that he has? Not necessary. In fact, I think Congress has used Raghuram Rajan more than what they have used Shashitarur.
[00:03:25] Because Shashitarur is what Raghuram Rajan is. Shashitarur is to foreign or external affairs is what Raghuram Rajan is to economics. So they could have used Shashitarur also. They haven't. They have used Raghuram Rajan. So if Congress party wants, they can use other people. So Shashitarur has not been used. Yeh fact hai. This is fact. There is no debate about it. So Shashitarur says, nahi yaar yeh kya hai yaar? What the hell yaar? You not use me.
[00:03:54] You may not use me. I will do something else. I don't want to work with you. Cheek hai? That too is fact. Is Shashitarur right in what he said? To a lot of extent, Shashitarur is right in what he said. But what then? If you are analyzing the situation, then you should look at it from both perspectives. Cheek hai na? Now let us look from Congress perspective.
[00:04:24] From Congress perspective, today, Congress needs a leader who is absolutely aggressive. stands by the party, stands by the party like a rock of Gibraltar. Aggressive. Like say Rahul Gandhi is. Aggressive. You see, because you want to be popular,
[00:04:50] because you think that even the other party members are friends of mine, because you think that, you know, I don't want to offend anybody, Baba. Because you think that I am too sophisticated to get into this, you know, this argument match and all that. I will not get into all this shouting, howling and all that. Therefore, in a market full of place, where you are supposed to shout, you don't, you keep quiet and sit in the side, and say, I am very intelligent. Come and ask me questions. I will answer you.
[00:05:22] If you do that, possibly, you will be sideline, won't you? Your organization needs a different trait. Your organization needs a different skill set. Your skill sets are not matching with your organization. Have you thought of it? Maybe that is why the organization is keeping you outside. Raghu Ram Rajan goes out, even as an outsider, he goes out and criticizes the government. Lock, stock and barrel,
[00:05:50] most of the things he said didn't come true. A lot of things that he predicted about the economy didn't come true. But he went, he supported whatever Rahul Gandhi and Congress wanted to tell him. He went out and said that, and therefore, Congress party used him more. Why? Because it was matching their narrative. Why? Because if it matches their narrative, then they build a narrative. They build a foundation. They build a story. And if you are not part of the story, then how are you part of the organization? Correct?
[00:06:21] So, you are damn intelligent, but you don't meet the party requirements. So, how are you supposed to think that the party is going to give you importance? Doosri baat. You see, he stood against Mr. Malik Arjun Kharge for the presidential election of Congress. Sorry. He had stood against, he had stood for the top job
[00:06:50] in the company. He was, he had pitted for the top job in the company. Now, Kharge won. His opposition, the person who stood against him, won. And he won fair and square. It was a different issue that the popular people within the organization or the powerful people within the organization supported Kharge. But Kharge won fair and square. Vote hua ta, vote mein Kharge won. After two years of Kharge winning, will anybody say that here, Kharge shouldn't have won, this man would have done
[00:07:20] and this man would have done a better job than Kharge? Is anyone, people who are supporting him also, is anyone willing to say that? That Kharge was not a good choice? Yes. Malika Arjun, Kharge did a fantastic job at least till 2024. After 2024, things collapsed. But till 2024, Kharge did a good job. You can't take it away from that man. To whatever extent, he has been a fairly good president till now. Aage,
[00:07:50] God knows. Now should he resign? Maybe. One can't say that, oh my God, what a mistake. You took Kharge instead of you would have taken Shashi Tarur, Congress would have had a prime minister sitting there in Delhi today. Would that be possible? No. Then what are we talking about? So that is another point. Again, the point is similar. Kharge, at whatever age, goes out there and talks
[00:08:21] looking at the eyes of the government, talks, criticizes the government, talks against government policies which he thinks are not right and is there is no diplomacy. There is no if there is no baghira but that is not the tone he takes. That is the tone unfortunately Shashi Tarur takes. Shashi Tarur takes that tone. Okay.
[00:08:51] Now this is as far as Shashi Tarur and Congress is concerned. Now I have a friend of mine called Sanjay Jha. Sanjay Jha is a fantastic mind, a gentleman, a gentleman and I have lot of respect for that man, lot of respect for that man. He wrote an open letter to Rahul Gandhi. Like I said, I have a lot of respect for that man and the fact that I know that he will take what I am saying as a positive
[00:09:22] criticism or my point of view. He will take that and that is precisely why I am saying this in my video. You see, first of all, Sanjay Jha talks about Rahul Gandhi taking cognizance to what is happening to Shashi Tarur. Okay. My first objection is to that. See, a person like Sanjay Jha, a person like Sanjay Jha I say because Sanjay Jha
[00:09:52] was one of those people who said that listen, you know, there should be democracy in a political party. A political party should run a democratic, in a democratic country, a political party should have equal democracy within the party. Sanjay Jha said this and I respect him for that. The fact that he writing an open letter to Rahul Gandhi actually is killing his own purpose. He is killing his own purpose. Why is Sanjay Jha
[00:10:21] writing to Rahul Gandhi? In fact, Sanjay Jha wrote to Rahul Gandhi asking him that you are not accessible and therefore I am writing this open letter. Why do you want Rahul Gandhi to be accessible? Who is Rahul Gandhi? He is a MP, a sadharan MP like whatever, 99 MPs of Congress in Lok Sabha. He is one of those 99 MPs. Why do you want to have his attention? Why is his attention
[00:10:51] so important Sanjay? the point is the fact that if you are seeking his attention, you are seeking, you want him to listen to you, then you are actually telling us that listen, you know what, Rahul Gandhi only matters. Malika Arjun Karge doesn't. He is a puppet president, he is a useless president, he is a puppet president. If that's your problem, then let us not talk about Rahul Gandhi not giving
[00:11:21] you attention, let us talk about how irrelevant Malika Arjun Karge is in Congress. Then the country will also know what is happening within the party, you know? Because I believe that there is a certain amount of power that Malika Arjun Karge holds. There is a certain amount of influence that Malika Arjun Karge holds in Congress party. I believe that. Now you would know Congress much better than I do. So tell us it is wrong. So then tell us that listen, you know what,
[00:11:50] I am trying to write to Rahul Gandhi because Rahul Gandhi is the only person who is relevant in Congress. Rest, everybody is useless in Congress. All that Malika Arjun Karge nobody is bothered in Congress. Nobody is nothing will happen. If Rahul Gandhi looks at Shashi Tarur everything will happen. If Rahul Gandhi doesn't help Shashi Tarur nothing will happen. Tell us that. Tell the world that. It will serve in
[00:12:20] two purposes. First of all it will serve Shashi Tarur's cause. Secondly it will also tell the world people like me sit outside us that listen Congress is there as a rubber stamp. He's a useless man. There is no point of having him as a president. Ultimately every call is taken by Rahul Gandhi. Tell us this. Then possibly your argument makes sense. Like I said Sanjay is a very dear friend of mine is a
[00:12:50] great guy. He's a fantastic thinker. He's a very clear mind. So therefore I'm asking him this question. One of these days I would request him for an interview and we
[00:13:21] taking up writing or taking up lecturing or whatever whatever whatever he never spoke in Malayalam so I can tell you this with absolute confidence he didn't say that he's got other options he wants to join BJP or CPI and all that is not what he said he said that if Congress finds me useless or Congress doesn't find good use for me then I might as well do something else this is what he said for starters so yes secondly I think Congress should give him more impetus find a good use for him because end of the day he is a popular resource
[00:13:52] but what Shashitarur also needs to understand is listen your brand proposition or your brand position is not matching your company's brand position y'all are working in two realms your party needs an aggressive person who is on ground fighting one of the most aggressive parties in the world that is Bharati Achanata party that's what your party is fighting you can't sit in the side and sip a coffee and
[00:14:21] try being sophisticated it won't match your party's need and till such time it won't match your party's need your party is not going to give you importance it's not going to happen Karga is aggressive at this age absolutely aggressive and that's why he was chosen as the president so that's the point I'm trying to make that's my two bits
[00:14:50] I hope you enjoyed this editorial till I see you next time that's tomorrow at 10 Namaskar