Shashi Tharoor, the former UN under secretary general and Congress candidate for the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, yesterday secured bail from a court in Kerala in a case charging him with showing disrespect to the national anthem. Tharoor was accused of interrupting the national anthem and urging people to place their palms over the heart as is done in the US, instead of the Indian practice of merely standing at attention. Tharoor has denied showing disrespect to the anthem.