Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor cautioned the Congress which recently won the elections in Karnataka and is basking in its glory. The Congress won 135 seats out of 224 in the Karnataka assembly elections, leaving BJP with 66 seats in the elections held in May this year. Tharoor also cited the Congress’ poor performance in the 2019 general election after victories in assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh the previous year to buttress his point.
Making his point, the Thiruvananthapuram MP also said that Congress cannot assume that because it worked in one state, it can work nationally. On the sidelines of the recent Valladolid edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival, Tharoor said, "In 2018, we not only came out as the largest single party in Karnataka but also had victories in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. And yet, when the Lok Sabha elections came around in the same states, the BJP trounced us... and even in Karnataka, they left us with just one seat in the Lok Sabha."
“So if the voters can change their behaviour in a matter of months, between state elections and national elections, it’s important for us to not be complacent.”
According to the Thiruvananthapuram MP, having a “strong and effective local leadership” and emphasising local issues helped the Congress win in Karnataka. “The (Congress) president Kharge is himself from Karnataka, Gandhi siblings came and campaigned, but the lead was taken very much on the ground by local leaders. The emphasis on local issues, local preoccupations, economic issues, infrastructure issues in Bangalore are all of these. The things that matter to voters is what the Congress focussed on,” the 67-year-old said.
Discussing the rift between various leaders of the Congress, he said differences between party ranks are natural. Over the last few years, schisms within the Congress have repeatedly captured headlines - between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot, for instance.
“It’s natural in politics for people to have individual ambitions. They can be committed to the ideology of the party and to the overall agenda of the party but individuals can feel that they are better suited to drive that agenda forward,” Tharoor said.
(With PTI inputs)
