'BJP to emerge single largest party but...': Shashi Tharoor's prediction for 2024 LS polls

‘BJP to emerge single largest party but…’: Shashi Tharoor’s prediction for 2024 LS polls

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has predicted that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would emerge as the single largest party in 2024 Lok Sabha elections but may not get enough seats to form government on its own, thus, giving the Opposition a chance to form government.

Addressing the ‘India: The Future is Now’ session during the ongoing Kerala Literature Festival (KLF), Tharoor said, “I still expect that the BJP will emerge as the single-largest party. But I do believe their numbers can be brought down to a level where their potential allies required to form a government may no longer be willing to ally with them and may be willing to ally with us. So we have to give it a try.”

As many as 28 Opposition parties, including the Congress, have formed an alliance named INDIA to take on the mighty Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The Opposition is hoping to turn the tide by contesting the polls together. However, Tharoor felt that an alliance between the two INDIA allies – the Congress and CPI(M) – in Kerala is “almost impossible”.

“In Kerala, it is almost impossible to imagine the two major opponents, CPI(M) and Congress, agreeing on seat-sharing. However, in Tamil Nadu, CPI, CPI(M), Congress, and DMK are allied together with no dispute,” Tharoor stated.

The Congress MP from Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram candidly acknowledged the differences between INDIA alliance partners while deciding the seat-sharing agreement.

He expressed hope that the Opposition could reach “sufficient agreements” in order to avoid preventable defeats in several states.