New Delhi, April 9 (IANS). Amid voting in Kerala, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor claimed that the BJP-led NDA has no credibility in Kerala. Meanwhile, Congress MP Tharoor termed BJP as a ‘zero-seat party’.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor cast his vote in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. Speaking to IANS after casting his vote, Tharoor said, “NDA will be able to win any seat in Kerala. It has no credibility on any issue of government formation. Out of 140 seats, there are hardly two seats where it can be considered a strong contender.”
On the electoral prospects of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), Shashi Tharoor further said, “In 2011, when we got the opportunity to run the government, the people gave us a very narrow majority. This time I am hopeful of better results, so that our government has a stronger base to work from and can really bring about a big change.”
He completely rejected the NDA’s presence in the state, saying, “I have toured the entire state. I have not seen any significant signs of any strong presence of the NDA. There is a three-way contest here, where UDF, LDF and NDA are fighting among themselves. Therefore, I cannot at all assume that the NDA has any chance of victory anywhere.”
Shashi Tharoor expressed satisfaction over early voting and called it a good sign for democracy. He said, “I have come to my booth to vote today and I am very happy to see that the voting has been very good. It seems that this is an election in which the voters of Kerala are coming out to vote in large numbers and this is a very good sign. It means that the people of Kerala are not leaving this decision to just political workers and party people.”
Meanwhile, the Congress MP also commented on the Women’s Reservation Bill. Reiterating the Congress party’s stand, she said, “It was we who started it. In fact, it was Sonia Gandhi who brought the first women’s reservation bill during the UPA government. So we want women’s reservation, the question is what will be the method? What changes do they want to bring in it? We have not seen the bill yet.”
–IANS
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