Mocking BJP's claim that it will secure seats in double digits in Kerala in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Shashi Tharoor stated on Wednesday, that the only way they could achieve a ‘double digit’ in Kerala would be by obtaining two zeros.
"Otherwise, there is only one digit coming the BJP's way in Kerala, and that is zero," Tharoor told media.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his speech at the BJP meeting in the state, urged voters to vote for the saffron party so that it can win double digits in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls 2024.
Commenting on the claim, Thiruvananthapuram MP told ANI, “"I don't think the BJP is going to win a single seat in Kerala. Their strongest performance has always been in Thiruvananthapuram... I am not expecting that they will be anything better than that this time around either. Everywhere else, we have strong candidates.”
The Thiruvananthapuram MP cited that BJP's reach in Kerala is limited as the saffron party is yet to understand the culture and history of the state.
He adds, "I think the BJP's support base is limited in our state. Their kind of appeal is based on Hindutva, Hindi, Hindu and Hindustan- their kind of message does not fly very well here in Kerala."
Noting that people of different faiths cohabit peacefully, he said, as reported by PTI, "We have had more than 2,000 years of living together. Our relationship with each other is one of welcome and acceptance," Tharoor said.
Kerala welcomed Jews when they came here after the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians, which is about 500 years before Christ was born.
“Today, Jews tell me this is the only Jewish Diaspora that never knew a single instance of anti-Semitic persecution in the world.”
On the Christian and the Muslim community in the state, he added,
“Similarly, Christianity came with St Thomas, St Thomas of the apostles, it was again welcomed and spread. Then we had Islam coming, not by the sword.”
“You see, the problem in the north is that they think their history is the only history. We have traders from the Arab world coming to Kerala centuries before the Prophet, and they brought the message of the Prophet as news from their peninsula”
“As far as Kerala is concerned, communalism cannot go beyond a very small limit” he said adding, “we have already seen the BJP in Kerala reach that limit.”
"In the two successive elections, their vote was between 12 and 13 per cent. I'll give Mr. Modi the credit that they went up from a 6 per cent party to a 12 -13 per cent party under him, but I think that's it; the ceiling has been reached," Tharoor said.
He said the BJP tried to reach out to the Christian community in Kerala, "but after the horrors in Manipur, there is very little receptibility to their approach."
"So I can assure you that, as far as the people of Kerala are concerned, the BJP is not likely to win any seats in the Lok Sabha elections in Kerala. And as I said, the two digits, Mr Modi, are going to be seen as zero and zero," Tharoor added.
While the BJP did not manage to win any seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Kerala, the Congress swept the state, winning 15 out of 20 seats. The Indian Muslim League won two, CPI the Revolutionary Socialist Party one and the Kerala Congress(M) won one seat.
(With inputs from agencies)
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