New Delhi | Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said the answer to the party’s woes in Hindi heartland does not lie in “majority appeasement”.
He said that offering some sort of a “Hindutva Lite” like a “Coke Lite” as such a pursuit will only end up in being “Congress Zero”.
Tharoor claimed that what those in power are propagating is not Hinduism in any true sense, but a “grotesque deformation” of a glorious faith, which they have converted into a narrow-minded political tool to serve purely political and electoral gains.
“As a member of the Congress party, I do believe that the party has a fundamental role — and a duty to take the lead — in defending the secular space in India,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.
“Those who are suggesting that the answer to the party’s woes in the Hindi heartland is to become more like the BJP in “majority- appeasement” are making a cardinal error: if the voter is presented with a choice between the original article and a pale imitation, he will choose the original every time,” he said.
“The loyalist will respect a party that demonstrates the courage of our convictions rather than offering some sort of “Hindutva Lite”; like ”Coke Lite” and ”Pepsi Zero”, ”Hindutva Lite” will only end up with ”Congress Zero”,” the 63-year-old leader said.
Shashi Tharoor’s remarks come following Congress’ washout in the Hindi heartland in the Lok Sabha polls.
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