WORD SMITH

SHASHI THAROOR 62 Congress MP

Because in an increasingly hypernationalistic narrative dominated by Hindutva and Hindi, Tharoor has emerged as the voice of dissent, defined by the strength of argument, scholarship and language

Because the best-selling author—his latest book, Why I

am a Hindu, offers a pluralist perspective of Hinduism— also knows how to stay relevant in public discourse with his keen insights

Because he is India’s original social media superstar, now belting out regular vocabulary lessons. In the last one year, he has sent Twitter (he has 6.7 million followers) into a frenzy by introducing words such as ‘lalochezia’, ‘farrago’, ‘webaqoof ’ and ‘glibido’

Because despite courting controversy, he remains a favourite of Congress president Rahul Gandhi. He now heads the party’s professional wing

OOPS! He was trolled recently when he mistakenly posted a picture of Buddha while wishing his followers on Mahavir Jayanti