Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Saturday that with an INDIA bloc coalition government, people will get a prime minister who is first among equals and listens to others. In an interview with news agency PTI, Tharoor highlighted the advantages of a coalition government over a “monolithic one-party government”.
He said, “If you have a coalition government of the INDIA bloc, you are going to see, for the first time in a long while, a PM who is first among equals, who has to listen to others, take their point of view into account and who would have to be a good manager.”
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Coalition govt vs single-party govt
Tharoor said it is true a coalition government functions very differently from a monolithic one-party government. He added that the record and experience of the Indian public with coalition governments has been rather good.
“So, in many ways the advantage of a coalition is that there won’t be any sort of autocratic tendencies whoever becomes prime minister… they will have to take into account the others,” Tharoor told PTI.
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He added, “The growth performance of the Indian economy has been better under such dispensations than under single-party governments.”
“I would say… coalition government is nothing to be afraid of and certainly when I speak to most voters they are thinking in terms of who is the candidate ‘I am voting for’, what values does he or she represent, who do they bring to power in Delhi and how is that power going to be exercised,” Tharoor said.
‘BJP lost its grip’
For Tharoor, this Lok Sabha Elections 2024 is an election for “change”. He added that the BJP has “lost its grip” on the narrative as of now.
He added, “Right now, we are seeing a parliamentary system being run presidentially which is the worst of both the worlds.”
“Given Mr Modi’s style, the personality cult built around him, and the way the BJP has been ruling, I think it is fair to say that it (an INDIA bloc government) would be very unlike what we have seen in the last 10 years,” Tharoor told PTI
Will INDIA bloc win?
Tharoor exuded confidence that the INDIA bloc will form the next government. He said all opposition parties, campaigning together or against each other, will join hands after the Lok Sabha polls.
“…the truth is that in our country coalitions come after the polling…This is an unusual case where a serious attempt was made to bring people together before voting even took place. It was very clear to all of us that the coalition will work on a state-by-state basis,” he said.
“Finally when it comes to the day of reckoning on June 4 (when results are declared), I have no doubt that all these parties whether or not they are campaigning together or against each other, including the Trinamool Congress, when we have the numbers to prevent the BJP coming to power, we will come together,” Tharoor asserted.
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Published: 04 May 2024, 05:58 PM IST