BJP's 'Abki Baar 400 Paar' Target For NDA Is A 'Complete Fantasy', Says Shashi Tharoor
Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor says BJP 'maxed out in a number of states' on account of the Balakot airstrikes, but adds 'those results are impossible to replicate'.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has slammed the BJP’s “Abki Baar 400 Paar” slogan for the NDA coalition as a “complete fantasy”. Addressing a press conference in Delhi, the senior Congress leader said the Balakot airstrikes, led by the Modi government in response to the 2019 Pulwama attack, had helped the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha elections that year by shifting the focus from “the economic failures” of his first term, but it would be "impossible" to get the same results this year.
“Last time, in 2019, thanks to the tragedy in Pulwama and the response in Balakot and the conversion of the election... from what should have been a referendum on the economic failures of the first term of Mr Modi, it became a national security election in 2019,” he said.
“As a result [of the Balakot airstrikes], they maxed out in a number of states... In all those 11 states, those results are impossible to replicate and we are already seeing this very clearly... The strongholds of the BJP have shown minimal turnout and a significant drop in voting figures,” Tharoor added.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP and former Union minister said the "Congress candidates and the I.N.D.I.A alliance have attracted enthusiasm, the voting was carried out in good numbers". "Our confidence has gone up even further," he added.
#WATCH | Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says, "...It was already very clear when BJP started talking about 'Abki Baar 400 Paar' that this was a complete fantasy. Last time in 2019, thanks to the tragedy in Pulwama and the response in Balakot and the conversion of the election… pic.twitter.com/we7JAbmvt5
— ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2024
Tharoor said his estimates were based on the fact that he had had "the opportunity to see and campaign in large parts of the country other than my own state of Kerala".
“So, I would say with some confidence that I am looking at the overall picture of the country with a great deal of self-belief and a great deal of confidence," he added. "The reason for this is both in common sense and in the trends that we are seeing in the country in the course of the first few phases. When I say common sense, it was already very clear when the BJP started talking about 'Abki Baar 400 Paar' that this was a complete fantasy."
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