‘BJP Will Face ‘Tough Time’ in 2024 If…’: Shashi Tharoor Predicts Next Lok Sabha Polls Will Be Exciting

2024 Lok Sabha Polls: Tharoor says there is inevitably some anti-incumbency in the country and the BJP may well be ruing in 2024 that it succeeded so much in 2019 that there were practically no gains left for it to make in the country.

New Delhi: Kerala Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has predicted that the Narendra Modi-powered BJP will face a ''tough time'' in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls if the Opposition by and large coalesces around one candidate in every constituency to take on the ruling party. The Congress leader also exuded confidence that the upcoming general elections will be ''very exciting.'' "I think it is going to be a very exciting election. I do not agree with those who have written off the Opposition prospects in 2024," he asserted.

Speaking to the news agency PTI, Tharoor said it would not be easy for the BJP to replicate the pattern of 2019 when it swept or almost swept multiple states. Asked if the Congress has to be the fulcrum of any Opposition alliance, the former Union minister said, "De facto it (Congress) is the only party other than the BJP with a national presence and arguably we have a stronger national presence in some parts of India than the BJP has, (examples being) my own state (Kerala), Tamil Nadu."

There is no question that the Congress is a party with a national footprint, a historic legacy, presence pretty much everywhere and, therefore, inevitably it has to figure in any calculations of an Opposition front or an Opposition government in due course, Tharoor said.

"I think that the main lesson here of course, and we have seen from the last two elections which the BJP won with 31 and 37 per cent votes respectively, is that the divided Opposition plays into the BJP's hand," he said.

Opposition Unity To Oust BJP

Stressing on Opposition unity, Tharoor said it could be in various forms such as a pre-poll alliance or choosing seats wisely so that as far as possible, the strongest Opposition candidate gets a clear run against the BJP rival, and the final settlement left to after an election result.

"All of that is not within the realm of my responsibility but all I can say is that if the Opposition by and large coalesces around one candidate in every constituency, I think the BJP is going to face a very tough time in 2024," Tharoor asserted.

He argued that there have been very significant material changes in the country since 2019 and cited the example of Bihar where the BJP's former ally JD(U) has joined hands with the Opposition.

Anti-Incumbency Factor

"Much has changed since the BJP won a record number of seats with its ally in 2019 which is no longer its ally (in Bihar). Similarly, there are other states in which the BJP either had a clean sweep or won all but one seat in the state. I don't think that pattern will replicate itself so easily in 2024," Tharoor said.

There is inevitably some anti-incumbency in the country and the BJP may well be ruing in 2024 that it succeeded so much in 2019 that there were practically no gains left for it to make in the country, he argued.

Bharat Jodo Yatra

Asked if the AICC presidential elections and the Bharat Jodo Yatra has revitalized the party and brought it into the serious reckoning for 2024, Tharoor said he believes so and recalled that the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi had told him after the AICC presidential polls that she felt that elections had strengthened the party. "We have seen that the public reaction to the Bharat Jodo Yatra, especially the culmination in Kashmir, was far greater than anybody, whether our critics or our admirers, had anticipated," he said.

“The sense is that not only has it completely transformed Rahul Gandhi's image thereby the Congress party's, but it has also given a new self-belief to the Congress workers and that certainly will contribute in a significant way to revitalizing the party to the challenges that lie ahead, Tharoor said.

Not Interested in Any Party Position

Tharoor also ruled out contesting for the post of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) chief, should one be held, saying that he had contested for the post of the party`s national president as he stood up for certain principles and now it was time for others to `step forward`.

"I`m not interested in any position for myself. It was to make a certain point and stand up for certain principles that I contested for the (Congress) president`s post. I feel I made my point, now it is for others to step forward," Tharoor said.

Congress constituted the Organising Committee and Reception Committee for the 85th Plenary Session of the party to be held between February 24-26 in Raipur. The Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram said he does intend to go to the Plenary meeting although he is not interested in any position for himself.