New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest from Wayanad shows he has the confidence to win from both north and south India, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Sunday and asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have the courage to fight from a seat in Kerala or Tamil Nadu.
With Mr Gandhi contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Kerala’s Wayanad constituency, there is “palpable excitement” across the southern states that the next prime minister could be elected from the the region, Mr Tharoor told PTI in an interview.
Mr Tharoor also slammed Mr Modi and the BJP for suggesting that Mr Gandhi chose Wayanad to “run away” from majority dominated areas, saying the ruling party has repeatedly resorted to peddling bigotry. It was dismaying that this was coming from the prime minister, he added.
“By reinforcing his role as a torchbearer for the BJP’s bigotry, Mr Modi has disregarded the principled position that a prime minister of India must be a prime minister for all Indians,” he told PTI from Thiruvananthapuram.
Addressing a rally in Wardha in Maharashtra, the prime minister had said the opposition party was “scared” to field its leaders from constituencies where the majority dominates.
Mr Tharoor claimed Gandhi’s decision to contest from Wayanad comes at a time of “unprecedented strain” on the spirit of cooperative federalism that has held the country together since its Independence in 1947.
Under the BJP-led Centre, he alleged, relations between the southern states and the federal government have “steadily deteriorated” over a number of issues such as threats to the economic security of the south as well as the future of its political representation.
In that context, Gandhi has made a “bold statement” of intent to suggest he can be the bridge that repairs the growing north-south divide within the country, Mr Tharoor said, adding that it also signals that the Congress chief has the confidence to win elections in both the north and the south.
