BJP to project Modi as Hindu Hriday Samrat in 2024 Lok Sabha elections: Shashi Tharoor

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Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Friday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on the issue of Hindutva by projecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the "Hindu Hriday Samrat".

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

The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram said the 2024 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 (Lok Sabha Elections), 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.

"Hindu Hriday Samrat" literally translates to the emperor of Hindu hearts.

"All of this begs the question: what happened to achhe din? 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.

Meanwhile, the Congress has said it will take a decision at an "appropriate time" on whether party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi will attend the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22.

Speaking to reporters in News Delhi, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that Gandhi and Kharge have been invited to the ceremony.

"Chairperson Congress parliamentary party Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge have been invited to the inauguration of the Ram temple. A decision will be taken at an appropriate time, and communicated at an appropriate time," he said.

Congress' leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has also been invited to the ceremony.

The consecration ceremony will be held on January 22 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and more than 6,000 people are expected to attend it. (With inputs from agencies)