2024-04-15 10:09:01
New Delhi: Veteran Congress leader and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has made a big claim about Congress. He stressed that his party will get more seats in the upcoming elections than in 2019. He also predicted that the India Bloc would sweep Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The alliance will also perform encouragingly in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi. In an interview given to PTI, Chidambaram said that neither Hindu religion nor Hindus are in any danger. It is a deliberate strategy of the BJP to portray the entire opposition as anti-Hindu, so that PM Modi can be projected as the ‘savior of Hindus’.
‘Mamata Banerjee is the key player in this election’
P. Chidambaran described West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee as the ‘key player’ in this election. He said that their strong performance in the state will strengthen the India faction. I can’t speak for all states. I can confidently predict that INDI Alliance will register a landslide victory in Tamil Nadu. In Kerala, the two fronts (UDF and LDF) will divide 20 seats among themselves and BJP will get nothing. Congress governments are popular in Karnataka and Telangana, hence the party will get more seats here than in 2019.
Congress will perform better this time- Chidambaram
The former Finance Minister said that Congress had won 52 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Considering that Congress can perform better. He claimed that encouraging news about the India group is also coming from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi. The senior Congress leader said that accusing the opposition parties of appeasement politics on behalf of PM Modi and presenting the entire opposition as anti-Hindu is a well-planned strategy of the BJP. He said that Hindu religion is not in danger. On the question whether Mamata Banerjee can play an important factor in the upcoming elections, Chidambaram said that undoubtedly, she is a major player in this election. His strong performance in West Bengal will strengthen the India Bloc.
Former Finance Minister also spoke on Katchatheevu controversy
The Congress Rajya Sabha MP said that the Katchatheevu issue has been closed. He raised questions on BJP raising this issue during elections. He said Katchatheevu is a closed issue. The agreement was signed 50 years ago. PM Modi has been in office since 2014. Why did he not raise this issue in the last 10 years? The Katchatheevu issue relates to the decades-old territorial and fishing rights dispute around the island located between Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. It rose to prominence ahead of the Lok Sabha elections as both the BJP and the opposition parties are engaged in a war of words on the issue.