New Delhi: Congress leader from Kerala Shashi Tharoor has done it again. He has written an article in The Week, arguing why the devastating floods in Kerala should not be declared as a national disaster. This is in stark contrast of the demand by Congress president and undisputed head of the party, Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress president had tweeted on August 18

Barely two days later, Tharoor wrote in The Week that declaring the floods in Kerala as a a national disaster made no sense. Seeking pride in his ‘accomplishment’, Tharoor shared the link on Twitter, too:

One may recall that Tharoor had begun his journey in mainstream politics in as shaky a manner under the second UPA government. While on a foreign tour, the then MoS for External Affairs not only let out details of the bilateral talks, which were supposed to be confidential for the sake of diplomacy, on Twitter, but he also tweeted assertions that contradicted the statements of his boss of the time, Union External Affairs Minister SM Krishna.

Krishna had thundered in response: “These things are not to be discussed in public. If there is any difference in perception, then I think it should be sorted out within the four walls of the ministry. The business of government is far too serious... it has to be conducted in a manner in which we decide,” he had said. Tharoor lost the foreign affairs portfolio shortly thereafter.

Then Tharoor had riled everybody across the political spectrum, including the Congress, for describing ordinary citizens travelling in the economy class of flights as the “cattle class”.