Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is again pushing political boundaries — this time with his remarks on Operation Sindoor — as he appears to be manoeuvring for a bigger role in Kerala by leveraging on his brand of politics that melds malleability and mystique.

With the chief minister’s post up for grabs next April, Tharoor seems to be courting support beyond the Congress’s traditional vote bank.

In praising Operation Sindoor, the government’s messaging, and defending the understanding with Pakistan to hold down fire, Tharoor was, in effect, test-firing a strategy he advocated for the Congress’s revival at the recent AICC session in Ahmedabad — “constructive criticism, not unrelenting negativity”.

Tharoor’s dalliance with the BJP has long and intermittently been speculated, but one really can’t tell with his often inscrutable ways, and his ability to appear amenable to polarities at the same time, effecting a balancing act where he comes tantalisingly close to defying the party’s stand but never crosses the proverbial line.

His line on Operation Sindoor has been described by the party as his individual stand. He often makes common cause with Modi government positions, but is swift to rock back and appear Congress-secular. His actions have led many to wonder whether he has overcome the defeat of his challenge to Mallikarjun Kharge for the Congress president’s post.

Three months ago, he was praising the CPM-led LDF government in Kerala and stated in an article that “Kerala is beginning to stand out as a model of economic innovation and sustainable growth”.

He rode that storm and is riding the current one too, using his skills as a career diplomat of three decades to never cross the line, notwithstanding what party insiders may say about him overstepping the “Lakshman Rekha”, this time with his remarks on Operation Sindoor.

His timeline on X is instructive, for he is also toeing the party line by questioning the BJP’s politicisation of the military action and its attempt to appropriate the “Tiranga”, and criticising the blocking of a news portal.

“If there is going to be a Tiranga Yatra, the ruling party or the government should invite all parties to participate in it because the Tiranga belongs to all of us and not just the ruling party,” he said in a television interview.

He also weighed in on the blocking of The Wire.

“This is a great pity. India must allow the free interplay of different voices. That’s one of the things that distinguishes us from our enemies. No Indian site should be banned.”

On May 10, when the BJP posted a video that sought to contrast India’s response to terrorism under Modi with that under his predecessor Manmohan Singh, Tharoor called it out: “At a time when the nation stands united as Indians, this petty attempt to divide us politically is deplorable.

“Our government has learned the futility of past approaches the hard way — after inviting Pakistan to participate in the investigation of the Pathankot blasts in 2016. It is only then that it took to the path of military action, carefully calibrated and maturely conducted. This advertisement is neither appropriate nor mature. Delete it, please, @BJP4India.”

The controversies that he courts with his remarks keep Tharoor in the news, especially at a time when he is not being used much by the Congress in Parliament debates.

His remarks on Operation Sindoor cover a broad spectrum that will find takers across the political landscape. It is this broad appeal that he is hoping to build on as he eyes a bigger role in Kerala politics, having announced in 2024 that he will not contest another Lok Sabha election.

A sought-after campaigner in elections, Tharoor has secured the endorsement of the Indian Union Muslim League — a key constituent of the Congress-led UDF.