INDIA alliance will work for people, not leader’s image: Shashi Tharoor in Mizoram

AIZAWAL: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday asserted that the opposition INDIA alliance is the answer if the citizens of the country want the next government at the Centre to work for the people rather than the “image of a leader”.

The Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala claimed that the Congress is ahead of the BJP in all the five assembly poll-bound states and the outcome will boost the morale of the opposition alliance before next year’s Lok Sabha polls.

Tharoor said: “I think the time has come for Indian voters to ask what is in their self interest, not what’s in Modi’s image or PR work of the BJP. Do you want a government that will give your welfare a priority? Do you want a government that will put people first and not the image of the leader first?”

He asserted that the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is the answer if the citizens want a government that will think about the people instead of a single leader.

“Frankly, it seems the people of India are getting ready to send a strong message to the BJP. If you look at the elections, at the moment, the BJP is way behind the Congress in four of the five states and slightly behind in the fifth one, Rajasthan.

“So, if you are looking at the outcome, it looks like the opposition is going to get a very strong wind in its sails when it goes for Lok Sabha elections next year. And that can’t be good news for the BJP,” he added.

Referring to the pre-poll surveys in Rajasthan, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana, the senior Congress leader said that all of them have put the opposition party ahead of the BJP in all states except Rajasthan.

Polling in these five states will take place between November 7 and 30 in multiple phases, while the votes will be counted on the same day on December 3.