Sources close to the top BJP leadership tell me that Tharoor has already had secret meetings with the BJP's top brass and is waiting patiently to make his next move, reports Ramesh Menon.
Once again, the Congress appears to have squandered an opportunity.
It missed a golden opportunity to showcase Shashi Tharoor, one of its most articulate MPs, when the Narendra Modi government chose to pick him to lead an all-party delegation abroad to defend India's military action against Pakistan.
Instead, it attacked Tharoor, with its leaders saying he was batting for the BJP.
Even senior Congressmen felt the party had hit a wrong note that had not gone down well with its supporters or the prevailing national sentiment.
For a long time, Tharoor has been in the crosshairs of the party leadership. He has been jumping from one controversy to another, unsettling the aged, jaded leadership.
When the Congress was to forward names of leaders to the government for the delegation, it chose Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.
The name of Tharoor did not strike them.
Modi performed a masterstroke by choosing Tharoor.
Mirroring his typical style of nuanced debate and analysis, Tharoor lived up to the responsibility as he met foreign officials in New York, Guyana, Panama and elsewhere, defending India's military action against Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack in Kashmir on April 22 that killed 26 tourists.
In March 2022, he was instrumental in forming a rebel group of 23 Congress leaders demanding that the party reinvent itself and bring in a new collective and inclusive leadership to become politically relevant and robust once again.
He contested the election for the party president against the officially blessed candidate, Mallikarjun Kharge, 82, in 2022, saying that he wanted to bring change and infuse new energy into India's oldest political party.
As Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi clearly were against Tharoor, party men fell in line and elected Kharge.
It is hardly a secret that Tharoor is uncomfortable with the Congress and its leadership.
Many in the G23 group, like Kapil Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Milind Deora, Arvinder Singh Lovely and Jitin Prasada quit the Congress soon after and moved into other political parties, mainly the BJP.
Murmurs about Tharoor joining the BJP have been going on for a long time, but were reinforced after he led the government delegation, praised India's action, and praised Modi's diplomatic efforts.
Initially, the Congress courted Tharoor's erudition and oratory skills and hailed him as one of the brightest in their flock. He once symbolised the party's global outlook, and insiders used to boast about how the BJP does not have anyone who would hold a candle to him.
Tharoor had the rare combination of policymaking experience, communication skills, and mass appeal. His experience with the United Nations, his negotiation skills at an international level, and his role as minister of state for external affairs in Dr Manmohan Singh's ministry all helped him have a halo around his head.
Today, he stands sidelined, his intellect underutilised, and his presence kept out of high-level roles and key decision-making platforms.
Senior Congress leaders like Jairam Ramesh are openly attacking him, saying his views are discordant with the party line.
Tharoor does not mince words. He has made it clear that if the party doesn't need his talent, he has other options.
Back home in Kerala, local Congress leaders want to keep him away, afraid he might emerge as the chief ministerial candidate in the 2026 assembly elections, as he is obviously the only one with pan-India popularity.
The Congress hopes to ride on anti-incumbency and oust the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front that has been in power for the last two terms.
While Congress leaders were campaigning for the Nilambur by-election in Kerala in mid-June, Tharoor was missing.
He was not invited despite being a four-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram.
Local surveys have shown that he is one of the most popular leaders in the state.
State Congress leaders lamely said he was not called because he was busy.
Tharoor has said there was an 'absence of a leader' in Kerala's party unit. It has not been taken kindly by the party leadership, itching to return to power after ten long years.
When the Congress in Kerala wanted to refurbish its state unit, it chose a lightweight leader like Sunny Joseph, a sitting MLA, as the president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee.
It ignored Tharoor again.
State Congress leaders like K C Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala are intimidated by Tharoor's personality and have done their best to isolate him. They fear their chances of becoming the chief ministerial candidate in 2026 would be jeopardised.
It will not be easy for Tharoor to join the BJP as he has an image of embracing inclusivity and secularism all his life.
Sixteen years as an active Congressman is not something that he can wish away without a thought. But he has been pushed to the wall.
Tharoor will probably wait and watch until the results of the Kerala elections.
If the CPI-M wins again, observers in the BJP say the Congress will split and Tharoor will lead the rebel faction, which will latch on to the NDA and improve its chances in the next election.
Sources in the BJP say it is in no hurry to win Kerala as it is the most challenging ground for it to pitch its tent. It is giving itself ten or more years to come to power in the state and is drawing out long-term plans.
The other alternative discussed in BJP circles is that Tharoor may be offered a critical assignment abroad. In that case, he will quit the party and grab the opportunity.
Sources close to the top BJP leadership tell me that Tharoor has already had secret meetings with the BJP's top brass and is waiting patiently to make his next move.
Ramesh Menon is an award-winning journalist, educator, documentary filmmaker, corporate trainer, and the author of Modi Demystified: The Making of a Prime Minister.
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
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