Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], April 12 (ANI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who is re-contesting Lok Sabha polls from Thiruvananthapuram, on Friday said BJP's message is not well received in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh and the party has very little hope from southern India.
"The problem for them (the BJP) is that their message is not well received in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Here, we have a very different culture. We live with people of all religions, all faiths, and all castes side by side. We share life, and we celebrate festivals together. Ours is a very different place from the kind of ethos that the BJP promotes in northern India and therefore their message will not get across here... In Kerala as a whole, there is a great deal of lack of receptivity to that kind of politics, which is very similar in Tamil Nadu and very similar in Andhra, so I would say that the BJP has very little hope in the South. That's why, when the Prime Minister came and announced we are going to do double digits in Kerala, I said only if the two digits were zero and zero," Tharoor told ANI.
Asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacking Congress over its manifesto by stating that it reflects ideology of Muslim League, Tharoor said such comments won't work in Kerala.
"Frankly, those messages are not going to work very well here. Maybe they will have to try something different here...You come here and talk about the Muslim League and Ram Mandir, but people will say that the government's job is to look after our employment and double farmers' income. All the promises they made, have they delivered?" he asked.
He also mentioned that the BJP has a very poor track record in Kerala and whatever promises the BJP makes in Kerala, they break.
"The BJP's track record here is very poor. The BJP promised 3 things in Kerala - AIIMS, the National University of Ayurveda and the National University of Disability Studies- but broke all three promises. All we can say is - Modi ki guarantee hai that whatever promises they make in Kerala, they will break," he said.
Referring to union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar who is contesting against him, Tharoor said the BJP candidate here is facing a perception battle
"The BJP candidate here is facing a real perception battle because of the affidavit he has released which shows that he is a billionaire who is paying less taxes than a taxi driver... so he has a different kind of challenge, quite beyond the Hindutva issue and the communal baggage. So my own view is that this is going to be a tough election for the BJP," he said.
Thiruvananthapuram's constituency will go to the polls on April 26 during the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
The Lok Sabha polls will be held across seven phases, starting April 19. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4. (ANI)
