No need to wait till September 2025, Modi won't be PM after poll results in June: Shashi Tharoor
Mumbai, May 12: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said the country need not have to wait till September 2025 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not remain at the helm after June 4, when results of Lok Sabha polls will be declared.
Tharoor's comments come a day after AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal claimed Modi is asking for votes for Home Minister Amit Shah, who will be his successor after Modi "retires" on turning 75 in September 2025.
"A new government will come to power at the Centre in June. There is no need to wait till September 2025," Tharoor said while responding to a query on Kejriwal's remarks.
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, the Thiruvananthapuram MP alleged Modi has lowered the standard of public discourse and the language being used by him is not good for the country.
He justified the Congress' decision to decline the invitation for the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya earlier this year, saying the BJP doesn't have copyright on Lord Ram.
"I go to temples for praying and not for doing politics. They are misusing the 'pran pratishtha' ceremony in Ayodhya for politics. Should I surrender Lord Ram to BJP?", Tharoor asked.
The Congress leader further claimed the BJP has failed to hold a substantive dialogue on issues like rising inflation, unemployment, the failure to double the income of farmers income and the decline in the income of 80 per cent of the population.
Replying to a query on Kejriwal's remarks on the "retirement age" of Modi, Tharoor said, ''Will BJP make the exception for one person? Anyway, we need not have to wait till September 2025. Modi will not be PM after June 2024 (when the results of Lok Sabha elections will be out),''
Tharoor cited "compulsions of coalition politics" when asked why Congress hasn't named even a single Muslim candidate in Lok Sabha polls from Maharashtra.
"In coalition politics, a party has to contest lesser number of seats," he added.
He said making concessions in the larger interest of the alliance cannot be called a surrender.
The Congress is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra along with Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).
Tharoor claimed the BJP has failed to give representation to Muslims in the government.
"All Muslim leaders who were part of the Vajpayee era were phased out after Modi's first term (as prime minister),'' he said.
"Allies are standing with us. There is mutual respect unlike in the BJP-led NDA where Akali Dal and BJD have spurned the BJP," Tharoor said, adding that former PMs Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh ran the coalition governments excellently.
He claimed Modi wants to run the parliamentary system of democracy in a Presidential style.
According to Tharoor, the Congress' priority is to protect the essential character of cosmopolitan Mumbai. '
"After three phases of polling, a change is visible in the air, " he said.
Tharoor campaigned for Congress nominees Varsha Gaikwad and Bhushan Patil who are in the fray from Mumbai North Central and Mumbai North seats, respectively, against BJP's Ujjwal Nikam and Union minister Piyush Goyal.
Voting for all six Parliamentary constituencies in Mumbai is scheduled for May 20.
"I am confident that there will be good results in the favour of Congress," Tharoor added.
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Karnataka: Woman delivers baby on train after emergency halt in Dakshina Kannada
Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): A woman travelling from Mangaluru to Mysuru delivered a baby on board a train after it was halted at a station in Dakshina Kannada district, officials said on Monday.
According to railway sources, the passenger began experiencing labour pain during the journey on Sunday. The train was stopped at B C Road station in Bantwal taluk of this district to facilitate medical assistance. However, no doctor reached the spot for over 30 minutes after the halt.
In the absence of immediate medical support, two co-passengers stepped in to assist the woman. The delivery was conducted in the train's toilet compartment. Both the mother and the newborn were reported to be safe following the delivery, they said.
Railway police officials had arranged for the woman to be shifted to a medical facility. She was admitted to the Government Lady Goschen Hospital in Mangaluru for postnatal care.
According to the OBG (Obstetrics and Gynecology) department officials at the hospital, the child and mother will be discharged after the initial observation period is over.
They told PTI that the delivery was done in trying conditions. The two ladies who carried out the operation had done a good job. The child and mother arrived at the facility 22 kilometers from the spot. Also, the mother experienced no blood loss or any other complications.
The neonate has been incubated and the mother is undergoing normal observational procedure at the hospital, the hospital officials said.
Officials said the woman is a resident of Mysuru and had been travelling home at the time of the incident.
