BJP to project Modi as Hindu Hriday Samrat in LS polls: Shashi Tharoor

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on the issue of Hindutva by projecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "Hindu hriday samrat (emperor of hearts)", Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Friday.

In a post on X, Tharoor noted that Modi is set to inaugurate the Ram temple in Ayodhya on 22 January and the BAPS Hindu Temple in Abu Dhabi on 14 February, following which the Lok Sabha general elections will be announced.

The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram said the Lok Sabha elections are shaping up to be a "Hindutva versus popular welfare battle", and questions on economic growth, creating two crore jobs a year, and putting disposable income into the pockets of every Indian need to be debated.

"The message is clear. In 2009, Mr Modi was sold to the Indian electorate as the avatar of economic development, the CEO of Gujarat Inc., who would bring development to all Indians. In 2019, with that narrative collapsing in the wake of the disastrous demonetisation, the Pulwama terrorist attack gave Mr Modi the opportunity to convert the general election into a national security election," Tharoor said.

"In 2024, it is clear the BJP will now revert to its core message and offer Narendra Modi to the nation as a Hindu Hriday Samrat," he added.

"All of this begs the question: what happened to achhe din (good times)? What happened to two crore jobs a year? What happened to economic growth that would benefit the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder? What happened to putting disposable income into the pockets and bank accounts of every Indian?" the Congress leader asked.

"These questions will have to be debated in an election that is shaping up to be Hindutva versus popular welfare," the former Union minister said.