Congress MP Shashi Tharoor shared cheeky place-name puns mocking Delhi's post-Diwali pollution. Tharoor has previously called the capital's worsening air quality a 'national disgrace'.Shashi Tharoor shared a post on the horrible AQI of Delhi post Diwali. (Photos: Shashi Tharoor/X) Congress MP Shashi Tharoor took a cheeky jibe at Delhi’s worsening air pollution with a series of satirical images shared on X, giving the capital’s familiar landmarks and neighbourhoods a smog-filled makeover.In his post, Tharoor mentioned that he got the images from his college alumni group. “Picture ab bhi bAQI hain!” he wrote in the caption and played on the Hindi word baaki (remaining), with Air Quality Index (AQI) worked into the pun.The first image featured two rather pointed numbers: “Delhi’s AQI 1747” and “Delhi’s IQ 0000”.

While the exaggerated AQI figure underscored the city’s pollution crisis, the accompanying IQ reference added a sharp dig at the lack of meaningful action to address it.The second image took a similar swipe at the capital, giving familiar locality names a pollution-themed twist. ‘Pollutyens’ Delhi’ replaced Lutyens’ Delhi, ‘Dhuan Kua’ stood in for Dhaula Kuan, ‘Haze Khas’ replaced Hauz Khas, while ‘Chandni Choke’ gave Chandni Chowk a smog-inspired spin.See the tweet: From my college alumni group: Picture ab bhi bAQI hain! https://t.co/LO80QEH7L6— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 9, 2026The post came days after Tharoor criticised the government over Delhi’s persistent air pollution, calling the capital’s air quality a “national disgrace”.Speaking to ANI on Friday, he said, “Delhi’s air quality is a national disgrace. I’ve been talking about it.

Personally, at my own expense, I conducted a roundtable on air pollution for 10 years in Delhi before giving up any hope that this government is going to implement it. It is a really, really disgraceful situation.”Meanwhile, Delhi continued to grapple with poor air quality.

As of 6 am on November 10, the city’s overall AQI stood at 311, placing it in the ‘very poor’ category. Several monitoring stations recorded readings close to 400, nearing the ‘severe’ category.The India Meteorological Department has forecast a Western Disturbance over the western Himalayan region from Tuesday night, but no direct rainfall impact is expected in Delhi.- Ends