NDA is zero-seat party in Kerala, says Shashi Tharoor as state sees strong voter turnout

New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday asserted that the BJP-led NDA has "no credibility" in Kerala, describing it as a "zero-seat party,” even as voting got underway across the state with an encouraging turnout. 

“I certainly don’t think, and I have been making it very clear, that the NDA is a zero-seat party in Kerala. It has no credibility when it comes to any issue of government formation. There are barely two seats out of 140 where they are even considered as viable contenders,” Tharoor told IANS after casting his vote.

He expressed satisfaction over the early voter turnout, calling it a positive sign for democracy. “So I’ve come to vote today in my usual booth, and I’m very pleased to see we’ve had a very good turnout. This looks like an election where Kerala voters are coming out in large numbers to vote, and that’s a very good sign. It means that the people of Kerala are not leaving it to the political activists and cadres to come and decide…” he said.

Highlighting the electoral prospects of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), Tharoor added, “Last time we had an opportunity to run the government in 2011, the people gave us a very, very narrow majority. This time I’m hoping for a better number, a more comfortable basis for our government to make a real difference.”

He also dismissed the NDA’s presence in the state, saying, “I’ve been running through the state. I haven’t seen very many signs at all of any NDA credible presence. In a couple of constituencies out of 140, people say they have a chance; they’re viable. But these are all three-cornered fights where UDF, LDF and NDA are all fighting. So I would not at all assume that the NDA would have any chance even of guaranteed victory anywhere.”

Polling is underway across all 140 constituencies in Kerala, with voters turning out in significant numbers, making it one of the most closely-watched elections in the state in recent years.

Meanwhile, Tharoor also commented on the Women’s Reservation Bill. He reiterated the Congress party’s stance: “We are the ones who initiated it. It was actually Sonia Gandhi who brought the first Women’s Reservation Bill during the UPA government. So we want women’s reservation — the question is what is the mechanism, what is the change they want to bring? We have seen media rumours; we have not seen the Bill.”

--IANS

rs/rad