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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday said that the people's mandate has been clearly for the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Keralam, rejecting the 10-year-long "misgovernance" of the Left Democratic Front's (LDF)
"The mandate from the people has clearly been for UDF. It is a mandate for change, clearly rejecting the existing government after 10 years of misgovernance. At the same time, they've given the BJP three seats. They will have very little impact on governance, and we expect frankly to go ahead with the full confidence that the people of Kerala want us to bring about real change," he said. Further, Tharoor said that the Assembly elections 2026 turned out with both the government and the opposition feeling victorious. He outlined the BJP's victory in West Bengal, Assam, and Puducherry; Congress' win in Kerala, and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam's (TVK) lead in Tamil Nadu in its very first attempt. "These elections have ended with both the government and the opposition feeling victorious. In Delhi, undoubtedly, the BJP will get a boost from the victories in Bengal and the more predictable victory in Assam. Whereas we in the Congress have received some wind in the sails, some momentum from winning a state that we had not won for 10 years. So we have also said that the opposition has gained momentum, for example, in Punjab next year. The other story is the Tamil Nadu story, which is completely beyond these categories. It has nothing to do with the BJP or the Congress. It is totally a Tamil Nadu story," he said. Speaking on TVK, he added, "It's a very interesting development that we have seen happening with the TVK reaching out in this way, almost coming to a majority by itself at the very first attempt. You don't very often see a party with zero seats in the assembly suddenly becoming the ruling party. But TVK has set a new record," he said. He further highlighted that even after the remarkable performance of TVK, the party will need allies to cross the majority mark. "I'm sure that the state government in Tamil Nadu will need allies because they are slightly short. If TVK is to form the government, they are a good, if I'm not mistaken, 10 to 13 seats short of the majority mark. They will have to look for allies to give them those seats. In those circumstances, presumably, all sorts of discussions are possible," he said. Speaking on the West Bengal Assembly elections, Tharoor noted that it was unfortunate that the people who voted in the previous elections couldn't vote this time due to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). "SIR was a factor, but how much of a factor remains to be seen. There are questions as to whether the people who lost the right to vote were so numerous that they would have essentially affected the result. Secondly, there is some concern as to whether they were all people from a particular community or from a particular background. It appears that it is not true. So maybe, if so, the SIR, even if there were some injustices towards individual voters, it may not have affected the total conclusion... I think it was unfortunate that so many people who have voted in previous elections were denied an opportunity to vote again in these elections," he said. He said that there is a lesson that the Congress party should learn through these Assembly elections to understand what worked right in Kerala. "I think the party will have to do some very serious introspection, no doubt about it. We've said this before, and today we have a very good example of what worked right. If we can get it right in Kerala, what can we do to get it right elsewhere? That is a lesson the Congress party should learn," he said. (ANI)
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