Entirely possible for BJP to lose majority in 2024, says Congress leader Shashi Tharoor
Kozhikode (PTI): It will be "impossible" for the BJP to replicate its 2019 electoral triumph in 2024, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor claimed on Friday, and added that it is "conceivable" that the ruling party can lose "50 seats" in the Lok Sabha.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP, who was speaking at the Kerala Literature Festival here, said while he concedes the BJP's dominance, it is also a fact that they have lost many states and them losing the central government is not impossible.
"If you look at how well they (the BJP) did in 2019, they have essentially had every seat in Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan; or all but one seat in Bihar, MP (Madhya Pradesh), Maharashtra; and 18 seats in Bengal.
"Now, all of those results are impossible to replicate and the BJP dropping below the majority in 2024 is entirely possible," Tharoor argued during a session titled 'India@75: A walk through the Democratic Institutions'.
Terming the Pulwama attacks and the Balakot strike, which he said led to a "tremendous wave" at the last minute -- a "freak" that won't be repeated in 2024 -- the 66-year-old said a drop of 50 seats for the BJP and gain for the opposition parties is entirely "conceivable".
However, on the important question of whether the opposition parties, which Tharoor predicts will trump the BJP from its majority position, will stay together is something that he said is "impossible to answer".
"If the BJP is at 250 and the others are at 290... will those 290 agree or would the BJP be able to pick 20 here and 10 there from parties that want favours from the central government of the day and then form the government. We don't know," he stated.
The BJP won 303 seats out of 543 in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections while the Congress only managed 52.
Talking about challenges that India faces after 75 years of Independence, Tharoor, who despite admitting that dynasticism in a democracy is a "challenge", said those singling out his party should also look around the country.
He argued that with the sole exception of the "Communists and the BJP", ironically on the polar end of the political spectrum, every party seems to have dynastic politics.
"When we point the finger and say the 'Congress dynasty'... you look around the country and what you see Mulayam Singh (Yadav) is succeeded by his son, Lalu Prasad Yadav is succeeded by his son, Karunanidhi is succeeded by his son, Bal Thackeray is succeeded by his son, Sharad Pawar... he is very much there but his heir apparent is his daughter and his nephew," he added.
Billed as one of Asia's biggest literature meets, the Kerala Literature Festival is hosting an eclectic mix of literary and culture icons ranging from Nobel laureates, Booker Prize-winning writers, senior politicians to historians, film personalities, diplomats and artists.
The list of speakers include 2022 Booker Prize winner Shehan Karunatilaka, Nobel laureates Ada Yonath and Abhijit Banerjee, American Indologist Wendy Doniger, actor Kamal Haasan, children's author Sudha Murty and veteran singer Usha Uthup.
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BJP's Pravesh Wahi elected MCD mayor
New Delhi (PTI): BJP councillor from Rohini East, Pravesh Wahi, was elected mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday.
Wahi secured 156 votes, with 14 councillors of the Indraprastha Vikas Party backing him. Congress candidate Hazi Zaraf received nine votes.
BJP councillor from Anand Vihar, Monika Pant, was elected deputy mayor with 156 votes.
Jai Bhagwan Yadav from Begumpur and Manish Chadha from Paharganj were elected to the standing committee from the BJP, while AAP councillor Jalaj Chaudhary from Shalimar Bagh was also elected to the MCD panel.
On being elected mayor, Wahi thanked Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and the BJP leadership, saying, "We will clean Delhi in the coming months. We will work for the development of Delhi."
The electoral college for this year's mayoral election comprised 273 votes, including 249 councillors, 14 MLAs nominated by the Delhi Assembly, seven Lok Sabha MPs and three Rajya Sabha members from Delhi. A candidate required 137 votes to win.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) abstained from the mayoral polls. Earlier, the party's Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj said in a statement that the move would allow the BJP to take charge of the civic body and help AAP "expose" the ruling party on governance.
"Despite having power at all levels, the BJP has failed to bring about any change in Delhi. The BJP does not know how to perform. Only AAP knows how to work," Bharadwaj said.
Earlier, AAP controlled the mayoral post, with Mahesh Kumar Khinchi winning the election in November 2024 by just three votes.
The three civic bodies -- East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) -- were reunified into a single entity on May 22, 2022, as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
