There may be factionalism within the Congress but the various factions always come together to fight an election, says senior Congress leader and MP from ThiruvananthapuramShashi Tharoor. He speaks about his hopes of a possible turnaround of the UDF’s electoral prospects in the Kerala Assembly election, why the BJP cannot succeed in the State, and the G-23. Edited excerpts:
The opinion polls suggest that the CPI(M)-led LDF is sweeping the polls in Kerala. Your comments?
These opinion polls are unreliable. As the British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, famously said, “a week is a long time in politics” and we have almost four weeks to go before voting. Even the most recent polls were taken a few weeks ago. So, I believe that between the weeks that the polls were taken and the weeks remaining for the campaign, this election is going to turn around and the UDF will win.
Recently P.C. Chacko quit the Congress, blaming factionalism in the party’s Kerala unit. Isn’t this factionalism dragging the Congress down?
P.C. Chacko is a very respected former colleague. But he is a former NCP leader and he has now done ‘ghar wapsi’ to the NCP. On the question of factionalism, it is a bane of all partiesand we may not be exempt from our share. But the factions have always come together when it comes to fighting elections. What is interesting about the Congress is that whatever factions there are, they sink their differences and work unitedly for the victory of the party and the UDF.
The LDF has Brand Pinarayi, while the UDF doesn’t have any Chief Ministerial face. Aren’t you going into the election with a handicap?
I don’t think so. When there is an incumbent Chief Minister, that person de facto becomes the brand leader. In the previous elections, the CPI(M) too did not have a chief ministerial face. The Congress traditionally does not project a chief ministerial candidate, particularly when there is no incumbent. The good thing is that we have a galaxy of leaders to choose from and so many people of such outstanding talent. We all know who our senior-most leaders are and I would assure you that the voters will know who they want when they pick the victors.
The BJP has been making every effort to expand its presence in Kerala. How do you see the BJP’s poll prospects?
I think the BJP is going to find it difficult to even manage its record success of winning one seat out of 140. Even that one seat, Nemom, will be difficult to hold, especially since both the Congress and the CPI(M) have put up strong candidates there. But I will say that the BJP’s overall credibility may have reached its plateau. It has gone, over the last 15 years, from being a 6% party to being a 15% party. I think it may have explored the limits of what may be possible. I would be somewhat sceptical that there will be much more of an increase, largely because the ethos of Kerala is different from that of north India, where the BJP has shaped its communal strategy, its polarisation tactics. It has an effective organisation and lots of money. But money and muscle do not alone win you an election. You need to be able to appeal to the sentiments of the voters. The BJP’s ethos is at variance with the sentiments of Kerala public, which is largely free of bigotry.
There were speculation about you going to contest the Kerala Assembly election. Have you been considering embracing State politics?
I did not seek it. I have a job here and I am content with the role I am playing in Parliament both as an MP of the Congress and Chairman of the IT Standing Committee. I tend to see my political orientation largely as national and international. But nonetheless if the party were to ask anything of me, I would not say no in the interest of the party and Kerala. But I did not seek it and indeed the party did not ask me. So, here I am.
You were one of the 23 leaders, now known as the G-23, who wrote to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. But since then you seem to have taken a step back from the group. You were not seen in the recent public meeting addressed by some members of the G-23 in Jammu, where many belligerent comments were made against the party’s central leadership. Why is that?
I couldn’t go to Jammu. In any case, I was in Kerala conducting manifesto consultations and I couldn’t have been anywhere else. The G-23 is not some sort of organisation that the media has concocted; it is a group of like-minded Congress leaders who are talking about strengthening the Congress. Apart from myself, every other person that I am aware of in the group has openly said that they want to work for the victory of the Congress in these five State elections. I don’t see any contradictions between them and the Congress leadership or between them and me. If people like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal and Manish Tewari are saying that they want to see the victory of the Congress in these five State elections and I am actually going to the State to which I belong and represent in Parliament in order to work for that victory, what is the contradiction? I am not disowning anybody. I have not made any belligerent comments. I want the party to be stronger.
