Chennai: Union Minister Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said that the Lok Sabha elections wasn't only about who should be in power but it was a fundamental battle between the heart and the soul of India. Tharoor also denied a Narendra Modi wave in south India.
Speaking to the media in Chennai, Tharoor said that the BJP alliance in Tamil Nadu is cobbled together on a temporary basis. He said, "We don't expect the alliance to last very long. We are standing proudly alone. The Congress has diluted its core message by standing with other parties in the past. You need not vote for people who are in the Parliament and who you are ashamed of. You can identify with our candidate. We are looking at an amusing situation. The BJP is acting as if it has already formed the government."
Commenting on Narendra Modi's interview and his refusal to wear a skull cap, Tharoor said, "There is only one head gear that he rejects. He wants to send an unmistakable message of bigotry. His true colours are manifested in a simple rejection of that head gear. That is the kind of divisive politics that the BJP offers us. The business of apology of a game should stop."
Reacting to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh's former media advisor Sanjaya Baru's book, Tharoor said the book was fundamentally contradictory and that it did not stand up to any intelligent reading.
He dismissed opinion polls, which are predicting a big victory for the BJP. Tharoor said, "Let's not get carried away by opinion polls. There is a conscious undercounting of the Congress and overestimation of the BJP."
He termed Modi's meeting with Tamil superstar Rajinikanth as an act of opportunism by the BJP. "It shows that he has no appeal by trying to attach himself to other people," he said.
Commenting on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's silence on Modi, he said, "It reminds me of a Bharathnatyam performance. It offers good entertainment. Jaya has a track record she has to answer for. She said that the power crisis and drinking water will be solved. This entertainment must stop and get back to governance."
He also said that no party has done more for Sri Lankan Tamils than the Congress. "We can't make enemies of our neighbours, but we can put pressure on them," Tharoor said.
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