Surely you are joking Mr.Tharoor

I had respect for this guy. His books are brilliant, funny and enjoyable, his insights into foreign policy are awesome and his academic credentials are something to envy (PhD at 22??OMG!). But his antics on twitter these days have been nothing short of trying to gain a fan following, perhaps even shades of a "cult of personality" with twitterati clamouring for retweets. Many of the requests for RTs are genuine (blood donation, support for causes and some about his work in Tvm and I also realised that Al Jazeera website was banned in India or is it that only I cannot access it??), but some are just sycophantic paeans.

This latest article was the nail in the coffin. How can anyone interpret Congress victory in Karnataka as a resurgence? Was there an increase in vote share? Yes, a phenomenal 2%! All the perfumes of arabia won't wash of the soot from the Coal scam let alone 2G, Commonwealth, Adarsh, Riots in Assam and recently, genuflecting before China, editing the CBI report and the railway appointments scandal. I am no fan of the BJP in Karnataka, they ruined the environment, resulted in revenue loss to the state, exported raw material cheap to China (when we should be using the high quality ore for our own needs and not be a colony for supplying raw materials and dumping manufactured products) and then the attacks in coastal Karnataka by fundamentalist elements. Infighting in the party was just a byproduct of these accomplishments and no one would argue against outing the BJP in Karnataka.

The BJP's vote share fell 10% and these votes went to KJP and JD(S). The BJP lost votes, the Congress didn't gain much and it does not take a psephologist to understand that it was merely an anti-BJP vote. This is not a resurgence, if anything, it is a sign of things to come. Surely Mr.Tharoor knows this and then why is he coming up with inanities? In your books I have read about how those who speak out about the big powers are suppressed while some are co-opted. Initially with the cattle class comment and the resignation over IPL nonsense, I was disappointed that your fate would be the former, but now it seems you have unfortunately permitted the latter.

If there is anything about the choice of the persona for my bashing and why I haven't said anything about corruption in BJP or among the Left in Kerala or about Mamata Banerji's suppression of dissent, it is because we do not expect anything better from them. Enough has been written about it and finally, perhaps most importantly, it is my choice and I have the right to freedom of speech. If the question is "why don't you do something about it rather than being an armchair activist", I am trying to and been working hard for that.

For almost a decade I admired Lance Armstrong, his story was amazing, inspirational and it gave me the courage to keep going no matter whatever my disappointment and I wished I had some of the same grit and courage. Last year when he confessed of being a dope-cheat, I was robbed of a role model. It hurt in some sense and a similar feeling (not so much in magnitude) engulfs me now.

Coming from a person of such impeccable credentials, it is shocking and what I am worried about is the undue influence credible voices may have on public opinion. His columns are not going to be widely read by the crores of Indians going to polls, but it will influence the ideas framed abroad of what is actually happening in India.

PS- The pic shows an example of some of the retweets- a genuine cause and another one blindly publicising a news without any real analysis. The personal opinion on Kieran Pollard's innings against Hyderabad in the IPL is something I agree with- 66 of 27 balls? 8 sixes and 2 boundaries? INHUMAN is what I call the punishment on SRH bowlers. About the biggest grid- firstly, what use is a national grid if there is not adequate power to transmit? Power stations are lying idle because of lack of fuel- gas and coal because those allotted coal blocks in the illegal way decided to hold on to these assets rather than mine coal since prices were booming or they had no idea how to get the coal out of the earth since they were not in the mining business in the first place! I am merely pointing at the flawed policy and not talking about any presumptive losses. Being the biggest grid is again insignificant, USA chose for three separate grids in three zones. Russia does not need to set up grids to Siberia and China does not need to do that in the western non-industrialised part and for Canada it would be stupid and impossible to send electricity to hundreds of islands, inhabited and uninhabited. The engineering, building and laying work must be appreciated but the policy making (which is what the government does) requires no big pat on the back, if anything, this was only too late in coming. Maybe not, since the south was saved from the black-out last year since it was not integrated with the national grid :P