Shashi Tharoor praises PM for UP win

Jaipur : Tharoor credited Modi with the BJP's victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections to his "tremendous vigour and dynamism."

As Mr Tharoor said during his discussion with the media at the Jaipur Literature Festival, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a man of tremendous vigour and dynamism. He has done some things that are quite impressive, especially politically. We did not expect him to win with such a great margin, but he did."

According to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, the Indian public will one day surprise the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regarding the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, but today the people have given them (BJP) what they wanted.

The Congress leader, however, also critiqued the Prime Minister after praising him and added "He has unleashed such forces in the society that are dividing our nation on communal and religious grounds which according to me is introducing a toxin that is unfortunate."

Tharoor stated that he was surprised by the political analysts who considered the UP poll results a "foregone conclusion," and that only a small number of people had predicted the BJP's victory until the exit polls came out.

"Until the exit polls came out there was no question in my mind that most of the people were expecting a very, very close fight, and some were saying anecdotally that Samajwadi Party was ahead," he mentioned.

He explained that the Indian voter is capable of surprising, and one day they will also surprise the BJP. Right now, however, they have given the BJP what they want.

"Many people had not expected that BJP will come in power once again with such a majority. Samajwadi Party's (SP) seats have increased and hence they will prove to be a good opposition," said Tharoor.

He participated in the Jaipur Literature Festival 2022 on Sunday.

From March 5 to March 14, the 15th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival 2022 will be held in a hybrid format at Clarks Amer, Jaipur, Rajasthan, with on-ground events from March 10 to March 14.

The Congress leader expressed surprise at Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's campaigning in the UP Assembly elections, and noted that "from my point of view, I do not think the Congress can be faulted because of one individual's campaigning.".

"I think the issues are rather larger for the party as well as for party viability in some states where our presence has been systematically going down over the last 30 years," he added.

"You would have seen her everywhere, including getting arrested a couple of times by the Uttar Pradesh Police. You have seen her very much on the spot and running through the state," said Tharoor.