With Lok Sabha polls 2024 around the corner, the political tussle between PM Narendra Modi and the INDIA bloc has escalated. BJP, which is expecting to get majority votes, has challenged the opposition regarding their Prime Minister’s face often.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday responded to a question when a journalist asked him “Who is an alternative to PM Narendra Modi”.
Tharoor called the question, “irrelevant” and added, “The alternative to Mr Modi is a group of experienced, capable, and diverse Indian leaders who will be responsive to people’s problems and not driven by individual ego”.
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The veteran leader said that choosing a specific person for the PM’s post is a “secondary consideration”.
“Protecting our democracy and diversity comes first,” Tharoor said.
Last month, another Congress leader downplayed the importance of the Prime Ministerial face in Lok Sabha polls.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that elections were not “beauty contests”, and added, “In our country, competition is held between the parties, its ideology, its symbol, its campaigning”.
India bloc, a group of 28 opposition parties, have slammed PM Modi-led BJP as their leaders faced arrests and investigations by federal agencies.
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Two chief ministers- Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren have been arrested in the past two months without official charges being filed in court.
The BJP has denied all allegations of interference and the use of government agencies to further a political agenda.
The INDIA bloc’s struggles have been compounded by the loss of key politicians to the BJP. Dozens of leaders from national and regional parties have switched sides over the past few years and in recent days and weeks. Many have jumped on the winning Modi bandwagon.
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PM Modi is confident that his NDA alliance will return to power for a third term in the Lok Sabha polls due to kick off on April 19.
PM Modi’s popularity has been fueled by a combination of economic progress and Hindu nationalist policies, which resonate in a country where about 80% of the population identifies as Hindu.
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To counter this, the alliance is focusing its message on India’s unemployment, especially among young people, crony capitalism, and corruption.
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Published: 03 Apr 2024, 11:35 AM IST