Valladolid (Spain):
It is important for the Congress not to be complacent after defeating the BJP in Karnataka as voters may change their behavior between state and national elections, says Congressman Shashi Tharoor.
He cited the poor performance of the Congress in the 2019 general election after victories in parliamentary elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh last year to support his point.
The party, the author-politician said, cannot assume that “because it worked in one state, it can work nationally.”
“In 2018, we not only emerged as the largest party in Karnataka, but also had victories in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. And yet, when the Lok Sabha elections took place in the same states, the BJP defeated us.. .. and even in Karnataka they only left us one seat in the Lok Sabha,” Tharoor told PTI on the sidelines of the recent Valladolid edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival.
“So if voters can change their behavior in a few months, between state and national elections, it’s important for us not to be complacent.” The Congress won 135 out of 224 seats in the Karnataka parliamentary election, leaving the BJP with 66 seats in the election held in May this year.
According to the Thiruvananthapuram MP, having a “strong and effective local leadership” and emphasizing local issues helped the Congress victory in Karnataka.
“The (Congress) President Mr. Kharge is himself from Karnataka, Gandhi’s brothers and sisters came and campaigned, but the leadership on the ground was largely taken by local leaders. Emphasis on local issues, local concerns, economic issues , infrastructure issues in Bangalore, all this. The things that matter to the voters is what the Congress focused on,” said the 67-year-old.
On the other hand, the BJP’s campaign was “very top-down and centre-driven”.
“At the local level they were much more powerless and so people know that Mr Modi and Mr Shah will not come and live in Karnataka to lead the government. Whatever they had to say was rejected by the voters whereas if you are in In terms of who is going to be in charge in Karnataka and you look at what BJP has been offering for the past four and a half years, people thought this was not enough for us, we need a change,” he added.
According to Mr. Tharoor, it is clear that issues such as “the hijab, halal, Tipu Sultan and demonizing Muslims” have a shelf life and limited usefulness.
When discussing the gap between different congressional leaders, he said differences between party ranks are natural.
In recent years, schisms within the Congress have repeatedly made headlines, for example between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot.
Karnataka elections were also fraught with tension over who would become chief minister, Siddaramaiah or DK Shivakumar.
“It is normal in politics for people to have individual ambitions. They may be committed to the party’s ideology and to the party’s overall agenda, but individuals may feel they are better suited to advance that agenda” , said Tharoor. .
“Congress, I’m happy to say, has a relatively more democratic culture in that people feel free to speak to the leaders and speak candidly and so forth. I think it’s a matter of having the freedom to express your opinion, although ideally it should be done privately and within the party and not in public places,” he said.
Last year, Tharoor fought against senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge in the election of party chairman.
“There are those who have expressed strong views and disagreements. In my own case, I held and lost presidential elections, but at least the party allows for that. Mrs Sonia Gandhi told me that it had strengthened the party and I will take my word for it,” the congressman said.
Shashi Tharoor attended the literary festival to talk about his book “The Inglorious Empire”. He also attended sessions to discuss topics ranging from India’s colonial past to international relations and the crisis between Ukraine and Russia.
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