Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, asserted on Friday that the upcoming consecration of the Ram Mandir and the inauguration of the BAPS Temple in Abu Dhabi indicated the BJP’s return to its core message. Tharoor, questioning the BJP’s ‘Acche Din’ promise, suggested that the party was shifting its focus back to the Hindu Hriday Samrat narrative.
Taking to social media, Tharoor remarked, “So Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 22nd and the BAPS Hindu Temple in Abu Dhabi on February 14th. I expect elections to be called very soon thereafter. The message is clear.”
He highlighted the evolution of Modi’s narrative over the years, stating, “In 2009, Mr. Modi was sold to the Indian electorate as the avatar of economic development… In 2019, with that narrative collapsing… the BJP will now revert to its core message and offer Narendra Modi to the nation as a Hindu Hriday Samrat.”
Tharoor raised pertinent questions about the promises made by the BJP, including the ‘Acche Din’ slogan and economic development. He emphasized that these questions would be debated in an election that seems to be shaping up as a contest between Hindutva and popular welfare.
The timing of Tharoor’s critical remarks coincides with the pressure faced by the Congress from coalition partners like the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), urging the party to maintain a distance from the grand event. Notably, CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury has already declined an invitation to the consecration ceremony.
Meanwhile, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has extended invitations to Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge for the Ram Mandir’s consecration ceremony.