BJP caricature of Rahul not working any more: Tharoor

new delhi — The BJP had “very successfully caricatured” Rahul Gandhi but the tactic is no longer working because the people now see the Congress vice-president as an “effective opponent” to the ruling party, former minister Shashi Tharoor has said.

The Congress MP in an interview to PTI said the narrative had “changed very very clearly” in the past few months and people were now openly expressing “doubts and misgivings” about how the Narendra Modi-led BJP government was performing.

People are also more willing to see the Congress as a viable alternative to the BJP, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.

“The BJP had very successfully caricatured Rahul Gandhi in the past. That is no longer working because Rahul Gandhi is seen as a rather effective opponent to the BJP...As this changed narrative proceeds, you are going to find more and more momentum behind the Congress,” he asserted.

Tharoor said a change was visible with the Congress’s recent victory in the by-election in Gurdaspur in Punjab and of its ally in Vengara in Kerala, and claimed the BJP’s attempts to conduct yatras in places such as Kerala and Gujarat had “fallen flat”.

“I also feel very strongly that the people are beginning to ask when is the government going to keep the promises it has made...We are already riding much higher in people’s estimation than we were in the April or May of 2014, of that there is no doubt,” the 61-year-old leader said.

His comments assume significance as Gandhi is expected to take over the reins of the Congress party soon.

Last month, while addressing students at the University of California in the United States, the Congress vice-president had said the impression that he was a reluctant politician was a result of a campaign against him by the other political camp. — PTI

When Rahul takes over, there will be fresh energy injected into the party Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP