Ideas Of India: Tharoor Says Country Won’t Prosper By ‘Otherising’ Minorities, Sahasrabuddhe Claims 'Congress Started It'
Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said Centre was working on a vision in tune with ‘aspirational India’, while Shashi Tharoor countered saying the government's claims were not in sync with ground realities.
BJP leader and saffron intellectual Vinay Sahasrabuddhe on Friday said the BJP was on course to winning over 300 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The claim, however, was contested by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor who said the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will be lucky to go anywhere close.
In a joint session titled ‘General Elections 2024: Will Democracy Win?’ on the opening day of the third edition of ABP Network’s ‘Ideas of India Summit’, the BJP leader said while the dispensation at the Centre was working on a transformative vision in tune with an ‘aspirational India’, the Congress was ‘out of tune’ with the changing times.
Calling out the ‘complacency’ of the BJP and their allies, Tharoor said their tall claims were not in sync with the realities on the ground.
Tharoor, Sahasrabuddhe On Unemployment
“Unemployment, especially youth unemployment, is up. The youth unemployment is 45.4 per cent. I believe that if people were to think of their self-interests, their views would be different and so would be their electoral choices. While joblessness is a reality today, salaries aren’t going up. The price of essential commodities are going through the roof. I believe that the people wouldn’t cast their votes on woolly-headed slogans. The economic reality today hurts,” the Congress MP said.
To this, the BJP leader countered, “There are challenges. New realities always bring new challenges. However, where this government has stood out is the way we have taken the challenges head-on and implemented welfare schemes and programmes to support lives and livelihoods. Unemployment is not new…it is a legacy we have been carrying from previous regimes. We have created avenues of employment. Where was the Mudra Yojana before? Where were the schemes for Vishwakarmas (skilled workers and artisans). People are with us as they don’t doubt our welfarist intention and vision to take the country forward.”
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The Speakers On MNREGA Scheme
However, taking a further swipe at the BJP, the Congress leader said, “Startups have laid off more than they have hired in the recent past. Did this government think of MNREGA and food security? The kind of complacency that I see around me may make for good poll rhetoric but is not reflective of the reality on the ground. We have not risen to levels we promised our people.”
On the MNREGA question, Sahasrabuddhe countered, “We improvised MNREGA and made it more remunerative. During the Congress years, MNREGA was all about ‘gadda khodo aur bharo’ (digging pits and filling them up). They made many announcements but never took things to a logical end. There was no application of mind. We not only announced schemes but delivered on every single one of them. PM Modi not presided over bhoomi poojans (ground breaking ceremonies) but also inauguration events.”
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In an off-handed compliment to the BJP, Tharoor said, “I would concede that the BJP, over the course of the last two general elections and the numerous polls held in between, has been better in reaching the last-mile voters. They are better organised, well-funded and have superior election machinery.”
However, he followed up with a dig at the ruling NDA, saying, “People can keep buying a package once or twice but they would eventually realise that there’s nothing in it.”
To this, the BJP leader responded saying, “I thank him for his left-handed compliment. However, one would expect him to be more gracious. (PM) Modi has ensured an effective delivery mechanism. He has rekindled confidence that democracy can deliver. All bottlenecks have been removed.”
Communalisation Of Political Discourse
In a direct charge at the BJP-led NDA, the Congress MP said, “We have seen communalisation of political discourse in the last 10 years. This country will not prosper by ‘otherising’ minorities. At some point, that 1% (minorities) will decide that they have no stake in this country and will blow it up. Then all complacency about Hindu-Muslim riots will be over. I invite this government to say ‘embrace everyone’. When you attack Congress for being 'pseudo secular', then be truly secular and stop demonising people for their faith.”
To this, Sahasrabuddhe countered saying, “There is no 'otherisation' at all. It was Congress that initiated this. We consider them (minorities) to be equally patriotic.”
To a question from the audience on whether the country wasn’t in safer hands as there has not been a single terror attack in Mumbai since the last 10 years, Tharoor responded, “This government has been lucky as Pakistan is not the same as it was during the UPA years. They have also been lucky at how the oil prices dropped and Pakistan got progressively weaker as it came to be consumed by its internal problems. Give us 10 things this government did to make us more secure in the last 10 years?”
Electoral Bonds
On the question of electoral bonds and the recent Supreme Court verdict, striking down the Electoral Bond scheme of the Centre, Sahasrabuddhe said, “The original idea behind the scheme was to bring transparency and accountability.”
At this, Tharoor responded saying, “Where is the transparency in bonds where you can remain anonymous? 90 percent of the bonds went to one particular party. SC judgment fair and judge, widely applauded.”
A veteran BJP leader and prominent saffron intellectual, Sahasrabuddhe is currently the president of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), a body under the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) which was founded with the objective of fostering positive cultural exchanges with nations overseas. According to the official portal of ICCR, its primary objectives include involvement in the development and implementation of policies and programmes related to India’s external cultural relations, strengthening cultural ties and mutual understanding between India and other countries and promoting cultural exchanges with nations overseas.
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Also, a former MP, Sahasrabuddhe represented Maharashtra in the Rajya Sabha from 2016 to 2022.
The author of a book titled ‘Beyond a Billion Ballots: Democratic Reforms for a Resurgent India’, Sahasrabuddhe also co-authored ‘The Innovation Republic’, a detailed account of the innovations brought about by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his first tenure in office.
Figuring prominently in the BJP’s brains trust, he was part of the team that drafted the party’s vision document going into the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
A career diplomat, Shashi Tharoor rose to the position of the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) and also ran for the post of Secretary-General, albeit unsuccessfully, in 2006.
Now a Congress leader and a member of the Parliament from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, the silver-tongued Tharoor has also served as chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs and on Information and Technology.
Ideas Of India Summit 3.0
The 'Ideas Of India Summit,' a flagship event hosted by the ABP Network, serves as a prominent platform where eminent personalities gather to delve into the intricate fabric of India, exploring its myriad similarities and notable differences. Emphasising the essence of the nation as both "India" and "Bharat," the world's largest democracy, this summit gains considerable importance, especially with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections this year. The two-day event on February 23 and 24, the third edition of this summit aims to craft 'The People's Agenda.'
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