As India awaits the final declaration of results of the voting held for five states assemblies, the vote counting trend strongly indicates that the opposition Congress party is set to replace Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in three key states of Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh, Sputnik spoke to a senior Congress leader who claims that the election results are also an indication of the end of BJP's rule at the center.
Sputnik spoke to Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament belonging to the Congress Party and former Minister of State for External Affairs on what does the assembly election results augur for his party in the upcoming general elections.
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Sputnik: How do you view the state assembly election results where Congress is leading in three key states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, and Rajasthan?
Shashi Tharoor: The people of India have rejected Modi's rhetoric. It is now clear that the people have lost faith in Modi's leadership. Now is the time for a change and it's a golden chance for the Congress party to bring some positive development programs for the people and live up to their aspirations.
Supporters of the Congress party celebrate after initial poll results at the party's headquarters in New Delhi, Dec. 11, 2018. 📷 @AdnanAbidi #Results2018 #AssemblyElections2018 pic.twitter.com/m68jcYCnpr
— khabarlive (@khabarlive01) December 11, 2018
Shashi Tharoor: In fact, the result is a very strong expression of popular will. In a country where there is a politics of "Jumlas' (rhetoric) and where a number of promises are made, official figures tampered, GDP growth rate was forged essentially to fool people to believe that they (Modi government) are doing better. But people have given their mandate that they are not happy with the government.
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Sputnik: Do you think the results will dampen Modi's chances of winning the 2019 Lok Sabha elections?
Shashi Tharoor: The signal is very positive for Congress. Historically, it has been observed that whichever party that won elections in the four states namely Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana, have won in the parliamentary elections as well. Therefore there is a fair chance of Congress winning the 2019 parliamentary elections.
Sputnik: Do you think Congress President Rahul Gandhi's continuous attack on the Modi government on Rafale deal, GST, demonetization etc has appealed to the masses?
Shashi Tharoor: Rahul Gandhi has done a good job and he should be given credit for this.
The views and opinions expressed by the speaker do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.
