You need a ‘khichdi’ when you are sick, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has said in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s repeated ‘khichdi government’ barb at the opposition.
The country will cure the nation of ‘political sickness’ by showing the door to the BJP, the author-politician said. He was referring to ‘khichdi,’ a dal-rice-vegetable mix commonly taken when there is an ailment. He said there would be a new coalition government at the Centre with the Congress at its fulcrum, come May 23. “I have no doubt that the country will resoundingly cure our nation’s political sickness by showing the door to the BJP by the May 23,” the former Union minister said.
Tharoor said the people of the country would not forget the PM’s promise of ‘ache din’ which never came. “The BJP is making a ‘callous assumption’ that the Indian voter will forget the promised achhe din,” he said.
He said the PM had never shied away from politicising the armed forces, apparently taking a cue from former PM manmohan Singh’s statement that the Congress never garnered political mileage from military action.
Tharoor, who is seeking a third consecutive Lok Sabha term from Thiruvanathapuram, that went to polls on April 23, said the current mood of the nation was overwhelmingly in favour of the Congress.
He said the voters of the country were fed up with the past five years of inept governance, divisive and communal politics and callous policymaking. “At an ideological level, our idea of an inclusive India, one where all voices matter equally and are heard is in stark contrast to the idea of India that our present political masters have put forward, one where some voices come first and others are beyond comprehension,” the 63-year-old leader said.
(With inputs from agencies)