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Shashi Tharoor is a ‘Swiftie’: Congress MP grooves to ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ in viral video

The video shows Shashi Tharoor gently grooving to Taylor Swift’s music, clearly enjoying a short break from his hectic schedule.

3 min readNew DelhiJan 15, 2026 03:08 PM IST

The video was filmed inside what appears to be his workroom

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has caught the internet off guard in the most delightful way — by revealing his inner Swiftie. Proving that even seasoned lawmakers with packed calendars have room for pop culture, Tharoor recently shared a fun Instagram reel dancing to Taylor Swift’s popular track The Fate of Ophelia.

The video struck a chord online, offering a rare peek into the lighter, more playful side of the veteran politician.

Filmed inside what appears to be his workroom, with shelves of books lining the background, the reel shows Tharoor gently grooving to the music, clearly enjoying a short break from his hectic schedule.

The humour was amplified by the text overlay on the video. “When you have 35,000 unread emails, 5,000 unopened WhatsApp messages and 15 op-eds to write, but the social media girl decides it’s content time.”

His caption, delivered with his signature flair, added to the charm. “Somewhere between bilateral meetings at the Speaker’s Conference and the tyranny of my inbox, even a parliamentarian can become a Swiftie.

Do the Swifties agree?” he wrote, instantly winning over fans across social media platforms.

Watch the video:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shashi Tharoor (@shashitharoor)

The comments section quickly turned into a celebration. Social media users were amused and impressed, with many gushing over what they called Tharoor’s “pookie side”. Taylor Swift fans, in particular, embraced the unexpected crossover, filling the post with hearts, inside jokes, and lyrical references.

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An Instagram user wrote, “Pookie Tharoor, that social media girl is a rockstar”. Another joked, “The social media girl deserves a raise then for getting the pookie to become a Swiftie.”

A third quipped, “Only man in the country who can actually listen to her songs without opening a dictionary.”

Others chimed in with remarks like, “Witnessing Tharoor in his Swiftie era wasn’t in my 2026 list,” and “The coolest politician in the whole wide world.”

The song featured in the reel, The Fate of Ophelia, is the lead single from Swift’s 2025 album The Life of a Showgirl. The track has been a massive global hit, topping charts worldwide and enjoying a record-breaking run on the Billboard Hot charts.