The dates connoted in the passage indicate the tweets of @ShashiTharoor. You can access the tweet-archive on twimp.in or tweeple.in
I'm least bothered about the Foreign Policies and the erstwhile External Affairs conundrum of Dr. Tharoor, its all Greek and Latin for me. This is my perspective of my MP from my constituency and state, simple as that!
Dr. Tharoor surely must've taken this first year as an internship to understand the internal games of Indian politics, and surely got some very hard lessons. The gains for Trivandrum commenced the very day he announced his candidature. The constituency hogged national spotlight and Tharoor deservedly climbed the steps into the Lok Sabha by squashing the now obsolete commie opponent by six-figure margin. Period.
But not before he was taught the first lesson in Politics by the Trivandrum DCC, that you needn't try too hard to create enemies in Politics. His late night party with a group of 'red-class' businessmen irked some local Congressmen who were getting irritated by the limelight a newcomer like him hogged. Tharoor did start well, on way learning that if ever there was a 7-day a week job it was that of a politician (May 17). Before leaving for the Capital, he held a 3 hour meeting on the development needs of his constituency within a wide range of experts (May 17) including fellow blogger Ajay Prasad.
On reaching Delhi and assuming the power at his Office of MEA, Tharoor diplomatically handled the doubts about his open tweeting and also pitched in for Trivandrum's long awaited demand on High Court Bench. He was different from ordinary politicians we see around us when he openly declared that the struggle for the High Court Bench couldn't be settled anytime soon and that there has to be a softer stand adopted by the Trivandrum Bar Association. (June 17) The appointment of the one-man commission by the Ministry of Law is a direct reflection of the efforts Dr. Tharoor put in for the High Court Bench.
From eating 6 mangoes a day (June 9) to meeting with CM Achuthanandan in Trivandrum (June 13) Tharoor soon realized his priorities should be the unfortunate sections of society who lives on <$1.25 a day. Inaugurating his first bridge at Kazhakkuttam(June 17), initiating steps for new Passport Office facility, (July 6) and the successful inclusion of economically backward girls in Rai Foundation's scholarship (July 29) saw Tharoor stamping his arrival on all arenas of Indian public life.
It might be ironical to see his caricature as the US-bred-and-spoiled, blackberry wielding NRI Minister who connected with his Twitter constituents and not to the roti-kapada-makan folks in his hometown.
Tharoor, like other politicians, didn't jump in front of the camera claiming responsibility for the fruitful proposals for Kerala in Rail Budget ' 09. There was just a quite tweet that he was so grateful to the Railway Miniters for showering his constituency and state with the best ever Rail Budget (July 9). And he did continue his efforts to make sure that all the proposals got implemented. Papers have moved more briskly for the Kochuveli and Nemom development plans, though the Trivandrum Central modernization project is still bonded by Fevicol somewhere. Depressing to say though, the 2010 Mamata speech was a disaster.
In a quite robust event Tharoor managed to get Trivandrum twinned with Spanish city Barcelona, the idea being co-operation for city planning and improvement. It was another joke for many eager Trivandrum enthusiasts (and Tharoor deterrents) because of previous experiences with other sister-city projects. Remains to be seen where Tharoor and Barcelona will take Trivandrum to. Fingers crossed. But unlike his predecessors Tharoor took a few useful steps forward, including evoking an official Spanish interest in Trivandrum's dream project Vizhinjam, (that now VISL is seriously looking up at a G-G model) making sure that his brain-child wouldn't be left stranded and become a point for his critics to joke about.
Tharoor's panaciousness saved Trivandrum from losing of the Mental Health Center of Excellence originally proposed in Trivandrum, to Calicut. Tharoor did vociferously fight for the city but it appeared for a while that the executionery power of the State Govt would win. State Minister for health Sreemathi teacher almost succeeded in taking the institute to her constituency but as Tharoor would tweet later, an MP can influence the Central govt but without the co-operation of the State Govt nothing gets done(Sept 11). But the one relief is that this tug-of-war didn't result in the State losing an Institute, like what happened with the IIT. (You can read more about it on Hijacked City on TrivandrumLife)
Tharoor's timely involvement in the Sree Chithra Tirunal Institute of Health Sciences and Technology expansion plans may save Trivandrum from losing yet another prestigious development to Malabar. This has been the curse of this city, when the Congress led coalition is at the helm its Central Travancore-Cochin areas in focus and when the Reds are in control its the Malabar region which is given the thrust. Tharoor has been a welcome relief for Trivandrumites on that count and episodes like IIT, NIFT, NIALS doesn't happen too often.
It might be imperative to note the way he used the foundation in the name of his late father, the Chandran Tharoor Foundation to assist the Neyyar Dam kids to access their school safely. Airport Development, new road developments and infrastructural initiatives have picked up during the tenure of Dr. Tharoor, unlike the previous regimes where Trivandrumites heard more and saw less.
Even small things matter. Tharoor was earnest in appreciating even minor initiatives from his constituency because his Tweets carried the weight of Gold. Tharoor happily responded to a local web initiative http://www.filmydum.com/ to promote their website by his tweet. (Feb 2)
A new working platform was formed for the integrated development of the capital region, TCAN (Trivandrum Citizens Action Network), for expediting the developmental works for the city. (Mar 13).
Tharoor did hint at his hands were tied because an MP didn't have executionery powers. Quite right, the LDF Govt getting cold feet over Trivandrum becoming like a family property for Dr. Tharoor just like Amethi for Rajiv Gandhi. Quite interesting when you think that the likes of Mr. Vijayakumar who was the fighting warrior for Trivandrum, has almost gone into a shell.
Just not IPL, it would be cruel to suggest that he is not trying to uphold his constituency when he has mentioned about efforts to bring in world-class events to Trivandrum, like the Hay Literary Festival (May8). These kind of events may give our local economy great boost than TRIDA building a market complex.
Some people feel that Tharoor hasn't lived upto his expectations, that they see no 'visible' changes. Well folks, what do you expect to see in 12 months? A palm-island in the Arabian Sea off Veli or a new Burj Trivandrum in the CBD or a Maglev from Attingal to Kovalam? First time in my living memory I'm seeing someone who're honest and committed to his constituency and ready to look beyond the 2.5 crores MP fund. Remember, all what our previous MPs had managed to do with that money was re-thatching a few school sheds, building public toilets and tarring a few roads to their in-law's houses... Tharoor has pretty much addressed the most needed development needs of the city instead of promising castles in the air.
Its just one year folks, and Rome was not built in a day! A small example: We are just getting to see some obvious changes to the urbanscapes of Trivandrum after the road development project was kicked off 8 years back! So how wise it is to write the post-script now?
Pretty much of the Tharoor critics seem to run and hide when someone talks about pointing out a suitable replacement especially for Trivandrum. Even hardcore critics who care about the city, gumly agree that the city can't get a better one, well at least in the next few years.
Perhaps my political viewpoints may change over time but one thing I'm pretty much assertive about. Trivandrum may never get someone as committed as Tharoor, at least we have a person whom we can speak to. As his Congress deterrents said he wasn't accessible, but how ironic he was available at the press of a button to you and me.
