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'When I stepped down from the (United Nations) secretary general's race, the first visitor I had was a former minister of the Vajpayee government inviting me to the join the BJP.'
"I am here with the people of Thiruvananthapuram. I believe this term will be mine again. At the end of all of it, as far as returning to a Western country is concerned, that chapter is over. That train has left the station," says Dr Shashi Tharoor.
"I have no property in the world other than a flat in Thiruvananthapuram. I have decided to build a permanent house for my mother and me here and name it after her birthplace."
"My permanent address is going to be Thiruvananthapuram. It started as my karm bhoomi, but now it is my home," the sitting MP tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih and Nikhil Lakshman.
The concluding segment of a two-part interview:
On why this is his last Lok Sabha election:
"This is it. I am done and dusted, but that doesn't mean there aren't other possibilities in public life and I will leave the door open."
On why he will never move to a Western country if his electoral existence concludes:
"At the end of all of it, as far as returning to a Western country is concerned, that chapter is over. That train has left the station."
On how the BJP reached out to him to join the party:
"When I stepped down from the (United Nations) secretary general's race, the first visitor I had was a former minister of the Vajpayee government inviting me to the join the BJP."
On the agni parikshas that he has undergone in politics:
"Like a fresher in college, this was my experience of political ragging and I had to stick my head above the waters."
On how he rates Dr S Jaishankar as foreign minister:
"I give full marks to Jaishankar on energy, clarity, intelligence and helpfulness, but where I parted company is on some of his statements pandering to his domestic audience which has antagonised and alarmed foreign countries."
On whether the Modi government has redefined foreign policy:
"Modi's foreign policy is essentially the Manmohan Doctrine."
The over assertion of muscular Hindutva internationally is not redefinition of foreign policy, but a lapse. No one abroad likes to be lectured to, just as we don't like being lectured."
Videos edited by Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com