After Sunanda Pushkar's death, end of the road for Shashi Tharoor's political ...

MG Radhakrishnan Thiruvananthapuram,January 19, 2014| UPDATED14:26 IST

The cause of 52-year-old Sunanda Pushkar's "sudden and unnatural" death will come to light much later according to doctors who did the autopsy. But the fate of her 57-year-old husband Shashi Tharoor's five-year-old political career now looks highly uncertain. It dangles precariously on the brink. The doctors who did the autopsy have already dropped hints which could prove fatal to Tharoor's political career. They ruled out any natural cause for Pushkar's death, including any terminal illness, contrary to what was made out by those close to Tharoor.

Sunanda Pushkar and Shashi Tharoor in happier times.

This included some top Congress leaders from Kerala. The doctors also said there was no trace of poison in her body. However, they categorically stated that there were injuries on Pushkar's body and that whether it was the cause of her death would be known only after detailed examination. This implies that the cause of Pushkar's death could either be an accident, suicide or murder.

However, many forensic experts expressed surprise at the AIIMS doctors' insistence on "sudden and unnatural" death. "Such an entity does not exist in forensic language. There could be sudden and natural death but not sudden unnatural death," said Dr Ajay Balachandran, a forensic expert.

(Far Right) Shashi Tharoor with Sunanda Pushkar's body on Saturday evening.

If it is proved to be an accident, Tharoor's political fortunes may escape without much muck. But if either of the other two -- suicide or homicide -- is the cause, it would grievously affect Tharoor's political career at a time when he could easily win for the second time in the coming Lok Sabha polls from Thiruvananthapuram. However, even if the death was natural or an accident, it would be unlikely for Tharoor to don a candidate's role as elections are barely months away.

But if the death is proved a case of suicide, it would seriously affect Tharoor's career. His political opponents have already seized the opportunity. BJP's national leadership has already pointed fingers at Tharoor. The CPI-M in Kerala has called for a criminal inquiry. India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), the CPI-M's women's organisation, has already called for Tharoor's arrest as Sunanda's death was declared unnatural. "It is the law of the land. If a wife is found dead in unnatural circumstances, a case has to be registered against the husband and arrest him," said K.K. Shailaja, AIDWA secretary.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy tweeted: "In the wake of an inquiry into the possible murder of Sunanda P can T (Tharoor) be a minister". Ironically, this unexpected turn of events has come when Tharoor could have ensured Thiruvananthapuram as one of the few sure shot seats for the lacklustre United Democratic Front (UDF) in the next Lok Sabha polls.

(L) Shashi Tharoor at Sunanda's cremation taking her body to the funeral pyre.

For, though Tharoor could hardly claim to have delivered on most of the promises he made as a candidate in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the Opposition LDF is hampered by its inability to find an opponent who could match his image. Tharoor has also overcome some of the major odds he faced last time, like his lack of fluency in Malayalam, internal opposition in Congress and the Muslim outfits' campaign that he was pro-Zionist.

But all these look minor in the backdrop of the present crisis. Unlike Tharoor's scintillating successes in his academic and professional career, he was dogged by repeated setbacks ever since he started his political career in 2009. After retiring from a 30-year diplomatic career at the United Nations, Tharoor entered politics as the Congress candidate from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of his home state Kerala in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

Sunanda Pushkar with Shahsi Tharoor during their wedding.

Although he won with an unexpectedly huge margin of more than 1 lakh votes and became a union Minister of State for External Affairs, he was constantly in the midst of controversies, mostly on account of his own "politically incorrect" and off-the-cuff remarks.

This included getting into a legal fix over his demand at a meeting in Kerala to sing the national anthem in an "American style", reference to the economy class in flights as "cattle class" and culminating in his losing his ministerial berth in connection with the controversy over the IPL tournament.

Tharoor was accused of trying to help Pushkar, then not his wife, but a Dubai-based businesswoman, allegedly make some big bucks from IPL through a new team, Kochi Tuskers. Though Tharoor lost his ministerial berth, the controversy led to him marrying Pushkar in the end. Conservative India sat stunned as Tharoor and Pushkar merrily entered wedlock. But after the marriage, Tharoor appeared chastised as he cautiously refrained from shooting his mouth and consequent controversies.

Until BJP leader Subramanian Swamy tweeted that a union minister used his clout to get his son released from a Dubai jail where he was languishing, accused in a drug abuse case. Though Swamy mentioned no names, Tharoor jumped into the fray, saying neither of his two sons (from his first marriage with Tilottama, a Bengali academic now in the US) nor Pushkar's only son faced any case or jail term.

But the worst was still lurking in the shadows. It broke out a few days ago when Pushkar tweeted that her husband was being stalked by Mehr Tarar, a Pakistani journalist who was sending him love messages.

This led to a tweet spat between the two women and Tharoor saying his Twitter account was hacked and also mentioning that Pushkar was ill. This was followed by Pushkar saying she would divorce Tharoor for having an extramarital affair. A day later Tharoor and Pushkar jointly denied any serious problem in their marital life.

However, everything once again went upside down with Pushkar found dead on January 17 evening inside the suite the couple had been staying at the Leela Palace Hotel in Delhi.

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