Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor
Shashi Tharoor
	Tharoor in 2021
Pronunciation	[ʃɐʃi t̪ɐɾuːr]
Born	9 March 1956 (age 68); London, England, UK
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	University of Delhi (BA); Tufts University (MA, MALD, PhD)
Occupations	Writer; diplomat; politician; former international civil servant;
Years active	1978–present
Works	Bibliography
Political party	Indian National Congress (2008–present)
Spouses	Tilottama Mukherji (m. 1981, divorced); Christa Giles (m. 2007; div. 2010); Sunanda Pushkar (m. 2010; died 2014);
Children	2
Awards	Full list
Honours	Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (2004); Encomienda de la Orden Española de Carlos III (2012); Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (2022);
Minister of State for Human Resource Development
	In office; 28 October 2012 – 26 May 2014
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Minister	Kapil Sibal; M. M. Pallam Raju
Preceded by	Daggubati Purandeswari
Succeeded by	Upendra Kushwaha
Minister of State for External Affairs
	In office; 28 May 2009 – 18 April 2010
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Minister	S. M. Krishna
Preceded by	Anand Sharma
Succeeded by	E. Ahamed
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 31 May 2009
Preceded by	Pannyan Raveendran
Constituency	Thiruvananthapuram
United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information
	In office; 1 June 2002 – 9 February 2007
Secretary General	Kofi Annan
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Kiyotaka Akasaka
Chairman of the Standing Committee on Information Technology
	In office; 13 September 2019 – 12 September 2022
Chairman of the Standing Committee on Chemicals & Fertilizers
	In office; 23 March 2023 – Incumbent
Preceded by	Kanimozhi Karunanidhi
Founder-Chairman of the All India Professionals Congress
	In office; 1 August 2017 – 15 November 2023
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Praveen Chakravarty
	Writing career
Language	English
Period	Postmodern
Genre	Novel; short story; non-fiction;
Subject	Economics; history; governance; foreign policy; geopolitics;
Years active	1964–present
Notable works	The Great Indian Novel; India: From Midnight to the Millennium; Why I Am a Hindu; Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India;
Website	shashitharoor.in

Shashi Tharoor (Malayalam pronunciation: [ʃɐʃi t̪ɐɾuːr], SHUH-shee thǝ-ROOR; born 9 March 1956) is an Indian politician, historian, public intellectual, writer, and former diplomat, who has been serving as Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009. He is the present Chairman of the Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers.^[1] He was formerly an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and unsuccessfully ran for the post of Secretary-General in 2006. Founder-Chairman of All India Professionals Congress,^[2] he formerly served as Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs and on Informational Technology. He has about two dozen titles to his credit and was awarded by World Economic Forum as "Global Leader of Tomorrow".

Born in London and raised in Mumbai, Tharoor graduated from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, in 1975 and culminated his studies in 1978 with a doctorate in International Relations and Affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. At the age of 22, he was the youngest person at the time to receive such an honour from the Fletcher School. From 1978 to 2007, Tharoor was a career official at the United Nations, rising to the rank of Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information in 2001. He announced his retirement after finishing second in the 2006 selection for U.N. Secretary-General to Ban Ki-moon.^[3]

In 2009, Tharoor began his political career by joining the Indian National Congress and successfully represented the party from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala by winning in the Lok Sabha elections and becoming a member of parliament four times in 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024. During the Congress-led UPA government, Tharoor served as Minister of State for External Affairs. A non-loyalist of the Gandhis, Tharoor was defeated by Mallikarjun Kharge to be elected as party president in 2022.^[4] He is currently a member of the Congress Working Committee, which is highest decision making body of the Indian National Congress.^[5]

A Sahitya Akademi Award winner, Tharoor has authored many works of fiction and non-fiction since 1981.^[6]^[7] Popular for his command of the English language, Tharoor was the most followed Indian on Twitter before being overtaken by Narendra Modi.^[8]

^ Alawadhi, Neha (14 September 2019). "Govt forms IT Standing Committee, names Shashi Tharoor as chairperson". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
^ "All India Professionals Congress – Indian National Congress". Indian National Congress. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
^ Shukla, Saurabh (16 October 2006). "UN top job: Why India's candidate Shashi Tharoor had to drop out of the race". India Today. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
^ "Tharoor vs Gehlot: A battle of opposites for Congress president's post". Onmanorama. 26 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
^ The Hindu, 20.08.2023
^ "The 29-Letter Word That Shashi Tharoor Used To Announce His Book on PM". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
^ "Hindi not our natural, national language: Shashi Tharoor in The Paradoxical Prime Minister". The Telegraph. Kolkota. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
^ "Narendra Modi overtakes Shashi Tharoor, becomes most followed Indian politician on Twitter". India Today. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2022.

[Tharoor_IT-1] Alawadhi, Neha (14 September 2019). "Govt forms IT Standing Committee, names Shashi Tharoor as chairperson". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2019.

[AIPC_INC-2] "All India Professionals Congress – Indian National Congress". Indian National Congress. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.

[3] Shukla, Saurabh (16 October 2006). "UN top job: Why India's candidate Shashi Tharoor had to drop out of the race". India Today. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2016.

[4] "Tharoor vs Gehlot: A battle of opposites for Congress president's post". Onmanorama. 26 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.

[5] The Hindu, 20.08.2023

[6] "The 29-Letter Word That Shashi Tharoor Used To Announce His Book on PM". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2018.

[7] "Hindi not our natural, national language: Shashi Tharoor in The Paradoxical Prime Minister". The Telegraph. Kolkota. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2018.

[8] "Narendra Modi overtakes Shashi Tharoor, becomes most followed Indian politician on Twitter". India Today. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2022.

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