The emergence of flamboyant former under secretary General of United Nations as a candidate in parliamentary elections from the state capital of Kerala, creats new dimensions in Indian Politics. Bringing eminent technocrats to main stream politics was tried and tested by PV Narasimha Rao and the result was a prime minister arguably the best qualified in the world, in Manmohan Singh. and not to forget the failure of Krishna Kumar IAS initiated by K Karunakaran
Mr. Tharoor makes undoubtedly an automatic choice for any value based voter and there is no question of his abilities and qualities to represent the people of Trivandrum. Being said that, the contradiction between him and his supporters are very much evident. In Tharoors' own words :
"To represent the great citizens of this wonderful city would be an honour, but it is more important for Thiruvananthapuram's own sake that the people study all the candidates and vote for the person who can help them the most to improve their daily lives." but isn't it a shame that Sonia Gandhi was not been able to find a eminent personality from these great citizens of Thiruvananthapuram who understands the socio-economic situation of the place better than Mr. Tharoor. Indian National congress represented Thiruvananthapuram constituency for the maximum number of times , a walk over on many occasions and still Thiruvananthapuram stands as the least developed state capital.
One argument is that Tharoor came to politics for his desire to serve the people of Thiruvananthapuram and India as a whole. though I do not doubt his intentions, I should say his first preference was always United Nations and not Indian Politics and whatever he say for his decision to contest from Trivandrum, the congress had already counted their chicks for their high profile candidate with traditional vote bank among the poorest of poor, congress stands a good chance with Sashi Tharoor who can attract votes from sections of other class.
A section of middle and upper middle class who left for green pastures across the globe or well settled in Thiruvananthapuram , believes Tharoor is the answer to all the problems of Thiruvananthapuram. or are they looking for a statuesque MP to be proud off. They say they are tired of blood sucking politicians who haven't done any thing good, but Tharoor says he is impressed by the developments in Kerala which was closely watched by him during his years in UN and he have high regards to many areas of development. Being a party men reporting to the high command how can one expect the attitude of INC towards Thiruvananthapuram change overnight because of Tharoor. Don't forget the farce the congress created when K Karunakaran contested and the promise Thiruvananthapuram will change for ever.
Thiruvananthapuram may boast of many things from the seat of Rocket Science to first IT park in India but where does the laymen stand !! the coastal and rural areas of Thiruvananthapuram are the least developed,we still depend other states for our vegetable and rice, the fisher men still use tied up woods to go for fishing in the high seas, forget about the GPS,Public transport is in shambles non existent other than KSRTC buses and Indian Railways, which is not dependable for the Trivandrum commuters, drainage is a mystery yet to be resolved, there are people who don't have access to toilets and housing. In quest to catch up with the world in IT, Aviation, Tourism etc... we forgot to develop our basic infrastructure... we cannot shy away from those responsibilities....when we managed three International airports in Kerala, and that too one with the help of NRI's we just ignored the need for a proper transport system connecting the rail, road and waterways of KERALA... our priorities were not right....and every time we used politicians as a dart board for our mistakes.
The need of the hour for Thiruvananthapuram is a savior to develop the basic infrastructure of the city before anything else, it may be the corporation, the state, the center or all of them together.
Shashi Tharoor deserves to be the MP of Thiruvananthapuram, But I won't be surprised if he loses because of what the party he represents has not done for Thiruvananthapuram all these years.
Mr. Tharoor makes undoubtedly an automatic choice for any value based voter and there is no question of his abilities and qualities to represent the people of Trivandrum. Being said that, the contradiction between him and his supporters are very much evident. In Tharoors' own words :
"To represent the great citizens of this wonderful city would be an honour, but it is more important for Thiruvananthapuram's own sake that the people study all the candidates and vote for the person who can help them the most to improve their daily lives." but isn't it a shame that Sonia Gandhi was not been able to find a eminent personality from these great citizens of Thiruvananthapuram who understands the socio-economic situation of the place better than Mr. Tharoor. Indian National congress represented Thiruvananthapuram constituency for the maximum number of times , a walk over on many occasions and still Thiruvananthapuram stands as the least developed state capital.
One argument is that Tharoor came to politics for his desire to serve the people of Thiruvananthapuram and India as a whole. though I do not doubt his intentions, I should say his first preference was always United Nations and not Indian Politics and whatever he say for his decision to contest from Trivandrum, the congress had already counted their chicks for their high profile candidate with traditional vote bank among the poorest of poor, congress stands a good chance with Sashi Tharoor who can attract votes from sections of other class.
A section of middle and upper middle class who left for green pastures across the globe or well settled in Thiruvananthapuram , believes Tharoor is the answer to all the problems of Thiruvananthapuram. or are they looking for a statuesque MP to be proud off. They say they are tired of blood sucking politicians who haven't done any thing good, but Tharoor says he is impressed by the developments in Kerala which was closely watched by him during his years in UN and he have high regards to many areas of development. Being a party men reporting to the high command how can one expect the attitude of INC towards Thiruvananthapuram change overnight because of Tharoor. Don't forget the farce the congress created when K Karunakaran contested and the promise Thiruvananthapuram will change for ever.
Thiruvananthapuram may boast of many things from the seat of Rocket Science to first IT park in India but where does the laymen stand !! the coastal and rural areas of Thiruvananthapuram are the least developed,we still depend other states for our vegetable and rice, the fisher men still use tied up woods to go for fishing in the high seas, forget about the GPS,Public transport is in shambles non existent other than KSRTC buses and Indian Railways, which is not dependable for the Trivandrum commuters, drainage is a mystery yet to be resolved, there are people who don't have access to toilets and housing. In quest to catch up with the world in IT, Aviation, Tourism etc... we forgot to develop our basic infrastructure... we cannot shy away from those responsibilities....when we managed three International airports in Kerala, and that too one with the help of NRI's we just ignored the need for a proper transport system connecting the rail, road and waterways of KERALA... our priorities were not right....and every time we used politicians as a dart board for our mistakes.
The need of the hour for Thiruvananthapuram is a savior to develop the basic infrastructure of the city before anything else, it may be the corporation, the state, the center or all of them together.
Shashi Tharoor deserves to be the MP of Thiruvananthapuram, But I won't be surprised if he loses because of what the party he represents has not done for Thiruvananthapuram all these years.
