New Delhi, Oct 23 — Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi has ignited new enthusiasm among people, particularly young voters, in the past few months, and it was time for the ruling BJP to “sit up and pay attention” to the growing disenchantment, said Congress parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor on Friday.
He further claimed that the ruling party has, in fact, already started paying attention to it, and this is why they are “trying to demonise him”.
Thiruvananthapuram MP made these remarks while articulating his views on a host of domestic and international issues at the NDTV World Summit.
His support for Rahul Gandhi came in the backdrop of a “failed product” jab lobbed at the latter recently by the BJP.
A day ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at the NDTV World Summit, also took a dig at the Gandhi scion without taking names.
"I don't know how long the Congress will continue to put the country at stake for the launch of its failed product. (The Satish Dhawan Space Centre at) Sriharikota does not see as many launches as the Congress tries, unsuccessfully, to launch its leader in a year," PM Modi said, without naming anyone.
Notably, Rahul has been spearheading the Opposition campaign against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, alleging large-scale manipulation of electoral rolls, claiming that it was being done at the behest of the BJP.
Tharoor also countered the Prime Minister’s charge that the Gandhi family and surname were now a burden on the party itself and stated, "Ours is a party with a tremendous amount of intra-party democracy. I have expressed views that have sometimes been at variance in my party, but I'm still here. I'm still in the party: a choice to represent a section of the electorate, to campaign for my government as a leader, to chair a parliamentary committee, this one on external affairs," he said.
He also asserted that the Congress party is well prepared to take the government head-on, if there was a level playing field.
Speaking on global issues of multipolarity, he said that the world is entering a period of profound uncertainty as established global institutions are struggling to keep pace with emerging realities.
Tharoor further argued that old geopolitical certainties are fading, American dominance is increasingly being challenged, and the international order is undergoing a transformation whose final shape remains unclear.