Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said the opposition parties, whether contesting together or against each other, will join hands after the Lok Sabha polls and asserted that the people will elect someone who will be an equal in the India Group coalition government and listen to others People’s opinions of the Prime Minister.
In an interaction with PTI editors at the news agency headquarters, Tharoor said there was nothing to fear from a coalition government, including the Trinamool Congress in his argument for unity among opposition parties after the June 4 “day of reckoning”.
“Under this system, India’s economic growth performance is better than under the one-party government,” he said.
In his view, this is a “transformative” election and so far the BJP has “lost control of the narrative”.
Congress Working Committee (CWC) members also defended the party’s decision not to participate in the ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, saying it was right to refuse the invitation as it was “essentially a more A political platform of great glory”. Prime Minister Modi”.
“In my opinion, it would be a mistake if we did that. As a purely political decision, it is the right thing to do,” he said during a free interaction.
Tharoor said the way a coalition government operates is indeed very different from a single one-party government.
“Given Mr Modi’s style, the cult of personality that has been built around him and the way the BJP has governed, I think it’s fair to say that it (the India Bloc government) will be very different from what we have seen over the past decade,” He said he was confident that the Indian National Inclusive Development Alliance (INDIA) would form the next government.
The former Union minister said the Indian public’s record and experience with the coalition government is quite good.
“So in many ways the advantage of a coalition government is that whoever becomes prime minister is not going to have any authoritarian tendencies… they are going to have to consider other people. Frankly, this is the classic political theory of parliamentary governance. Now What we see is a presidential parliamentary system, which is the worst of both worlds.
“If you have an Indian bloc coalition government, then for the first time in a long time you will see a Prime Minister who is at the forefront of the equation and who has to listen to others, consider their views and who has to be a A good manager,” he said.
“Mr (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee is considered in many ways to be an excellent example of this consensus builder. He does not have a majority, far from it… of his alliance There were 26 political parties, but his government was able to deliver effective results while reassuring Indians that they had a well-functioning government,” Tharoor said.
The writer-politician also praised former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s governance style, saying he was able to pursue his economic goals “very relentlessly” and presided over India’s best-ever period of growth.
Stating that the UPA-1 alliance broke up and the Left quit the government and is no longer part of UPA-2, Tharoor said there is always a question and the Prime Minister may have to draw a line for one or more of his alliance partners.
“So my personal view is, let’s be reassured that our history of operating this system in the Constitution has basically safeguarded the interests of the people. There have been many periods when people have been absolutely pessimistic about our country, and we’ve gone through all these periods,” he said.
“I would say… there is nothing to fear about a coalition government, certainly when I talk to most voters they think about who the candidate ‘I voted for’, what values he or she represents, who they will bring to the table “How will we come to power in Delhi and how will we exercise that power,” Tharoor said. “
When asked about the contradictions within the Indian bloc reflected in the acrimonious exchanges between the Congress and the Left in Kerala and whether this would be an obstacle to forming a cohesive government, Tharoor pointed out that before that, The Awami League and the National Development Alliance led by Vajpayee have reached a consensus.
“So the fact is that in our country the coalition emerged after the vote… This is an unusual case where there was a serious attempt to bring people together before the vote. It was very clear to all of us that the coalition was going to Work on a state-by-state basis,” he said.
Citing the example of Kerala, Tharoor said it was unthinkable that the Congress party leading the UDF and the communists leading the LDF would become partners in the state.
“We have been fighting and bickering with each other for the past 55 years and till the last elections we have been alternating powers, so this is not even feasible. Having said that, next door in Tamil Nadu, the same One political party, CPI(M), CPM, Congress, our ally Muslim League and DMK are partners, have been partners and continue to be partners, there is no problem,” he said.
“Finally, when the day of reckoning comes on June 4 (when the results are announced), I have no doubt that all these parties, whether they are contesting together or against each other, including the Trinamool Congress, when we have the numbers will be in order to prevent the BJP from coming to power. , we will unite,” Tharoor asserted.
Tharoor said his friends in non-Congress-aligned parties have been telling him that “we will work together” after June 4.
According to him, the “arrogant narrative” before the first stage has ended.
“I don’t think we will hear people saying ‘abki baar 400 paar’ for some time to come,” the Congress leader said.
Tharoor also slammed the BJP for raising the issue of inheritance tax, saying the Congress manifesto committee has not even discussed the issue but the ruling party is looking for any weapon it can use as defeat is around the corner.
Check out the 2024 Lok Sabha election third phase schedule, main candidates and constituencies: news18 website.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a Yonhap news agency feed – PTI)
