New Delhi, Tuesday 20 April 2010: Shashi Tharoor, who quit his Ministerial post over alleged links to the IPL Kochi franchise, quoted lines from well-known Malayalam poet Vallathol Narayana Menon while making his defence in parliament.

Shashi Tharoor told the Lok Sabha that he had done nothing improper in ‘mentoring’ the Kochi franchise. He quoted from the works of Vallathol, whose poems inspired the nationalist and independence movement in the state.

‘When you hear the name of India, your heart must swell with pride. When you hear the name of Kerala, the blood must throb in your veins,’ the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said while reading out the English translation.