Phd holder from a famous university in US,over 25yrs of diplomatic experience in UN.Retired as UnderSecretary General of UN.Lost the post of Secretary General of UN by one vote(guess who did that?).
Doesn't at any day sound like finding these lines in the ciriculam vitae of a potential lok sabha candidate of Independent India.But it seems the wheel is turning in favour of India Inc after more than 60yrs.After all the hoopla of developed nation in 2020,youth engaging in politics and qualified politicians doing the rounds of newspapers for years,finally we have a candidate who fits the right bill.He is qualified,infact damn qualified!He is young...yep 53 is young age in Indian politics considering the nanogernerians & octogenerians fighting the elections.He has a vision of a making trivandrum his constituency a global city.
But if you believe that the entire city is enthusiastic about his candidature,then you are gona join a minority of people like me.More than enthusiastic at his decision to step into the shabby space of Indian politics where money & muscle power rule the roost,I eagerly discussed his winning chance with many malayalis especially his voter base of trivadnrum.Having lived in triavdnrum for over 20yrs now I am well aware of the citys problems and also have many friends out here who share the same pain of watching a stagnant city which remains largely undeveloped over the span of 20yrs.
Based on the responses from the many malayalis I am presenting the 2 shashis through the eyes of an average voter.One is Mr.Shashi & the other is Dr.Shashi.
Mr.Shashi
According to people Mr.Shashi is a foreigner to TVM or in formal terms an NRI who dont have any relation to the city.He started living in the city just 3 months ago.How can he understand the problems of the city.He is not a politician,he doent know anythng about politics.This is just a publicity stunt.He will not win from here.He will not be able to do anything for the city.He should have run from RajyaSabha like Manmohan Singh if he is that keen.He was a bitter critic of Congress and Sonia Gandhi till he got ticket.Puppet of US,sponsored by CocoCola company & the list goes on...
Dr.Sashi
An elite diplomat of the United Nations.Have developed contacts with almost all Heads of states and governments of the world.Climbed the ladder of diplomacy through 25yrs to miss the top post by inches.Author of 12 books out of which many are bestsellers.Regular columnist in major dailies acorss the world.Son of the soil.Young,experienced and has got a clear vision of making tvm a global city by twining it with another major city in a developed country.Strong Independed views on all issues(which prompted him to criticise even Sonia Gandhi).Possible Cabinet minister for foriegn affairs if Congress govt comes back at the centre.
My Verdict
Whether the above alegations are true or not.Whether hes gona win this election or not.One thing is sure hes gona change the way professionals and young white collared people of India are gona think about Indian Politics.He would have gone to work as the head of some major multinational company earning lakhs of salary.Rather he choose to bear the brunt of these petty politicians,fight with them for a ticket to contest(how else he would become a minister other than join a national party?)wear mundu(for me,the most difficult part..hehe),say malayalam and seek votes in this scorching heat.For these people who lament that he cant do anythng for the city since hes not from here,i ask them wisdom in placing civil service personels in totally different land to lead important projects?Its a public secret that beaurocrats lead the country behind the illiterate politicians.They almost work in totally different land and different culture.But inpsite of all these we have hundreds of success stories of able IAS officiers around the nation.Developement and vision comes from experience and thoughts(education)not by playing petty politics and conducting harthals.
Its hight time people of trivandrum realize this truth alteast now else the city is gona remain the same even after 50yrs and people like us can take pride that Old is Gold!Even i am not sure if hes gona change anything in this city after winning or if he becomes the foreign minister-(he will rarely get time to come here then!)But i can be sure of one thing- there is alteast one qualified minister(after kalam & manmohan) out there to lead the developing India of 110 crore!No marks for guessing where my vote went this time as I wait anxiously for the count down on May16.
His official website:- http://www.shashitharoor.com/
His election website:- http://www.shashitharoor.in/
well ur blog does seem to have impacted the polls....guess the result wasn't as big a surprise to u as it was for the rest of us.... :)
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