Tharoor in a pseudo intellectual role till 2019

Mr Tharoor is a learned person...represented India in the UN ...lost the race to be its secretary general not because he was less competent but because India didn't have the numbers...

With such impeccable credentials, he says, "A chaiwala could become a PM because of Nehru." A few days ago, he argued, "Abstract notions of constitutional principle also have to pass the test of societal acceptance — all the more so when they are applied to matters of faith."

Hope someday, when he is not donning the hat of a politician but rather that of a scholar, he revisits those statements and realizes how they make mockery of his own erudition (social, political & constitutional)

For information: (1) Indian constitution (not Nehruvian constitution) specifies the eligibility criteria for prime minister. (2) Indian constitution was made by a body of learned people (constituent assembly) which included Nehru as well. Nehru was a great person, the architect of modern India; gave direction & leadership to India in 1950s and committed blunders too but even he, in his most exalted ego state, would refrain from suggesting that he made it possible for some chaiwala to be PM... It is due to the collective vision of the people of India who were at the helm when the constitution was being written. No single person can & should take credit for the constitution that came into being in full in 1950.
and
(3) Constitutional morality does not conform to societal morality.

Yeah, political compulsion & sycophancy may explain this, but if this coerces one to come to this level, then one must introspect what's the difference between him and the ones he has been fighting against? or should we assume that it's not the battle of ideology or the quest to do the right thing, but it's the battle of convenience whose ultimate aim is grabbing of power no matter what the means are... And, isn't it so obvious but our gullible hearts want to give him a benefit of doubt...

Regarding his liberal credentials, the opening lines of T M Krishna's (the same person whose concert was cancelled due to alleged pressure by right wingers) op-ed says it all...
(Rajiv Gandhi once played with that fire in Shah Bano case in 1985 and ended up strengthening the very forces, it wanted to counter... I sincerely believe supporters of Congress do not want it to be another BJP...)