- Shashi Tharoor has declared that Modi will step down as India’s leader once the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
- This is amid rumors over Modi’s expected term, which ends in September 2025 when he reaches 75.
- Tharoor voiced optimism about the party’s chances in the current Lok Sabha elections.
Senior Congress politician Shashi Tharoor has declared that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will step down as India’s leader once the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha election are declared on June 4.
This is amid rumors over Modi’s expected term, which ends in September 2025 when he reaches 75. In response to a question on AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal’s statement that Modi would retire at turning 75, as has been the custom of other prominent BJP leaders over the years, Tharoor explained.
Lok Sabha election
After speculating that Modi’s term would come to an end following the next Lok Sabha elections, Tharoor asked whether the BJP would make an exception for him. He further attacked Modi for the “public discourse and language used by him” and justified his party’s choice not to send a representative to the opening of the new Ram temple in Ayodhya earlier this year.
Furthermore, he criticized the ruling party for not holding meaningful conversations on important issues including unemployment, inflation, farmers’ income, and the general population’s declining standard of living.
To defend Congress’ choice to not field any Muslim candidates in Maharashtra, Tharoor referred to the “compulsions of coalition politics”. According to him, giving in for the benefit of the coalition as a whole does not equate to surrender.
In Maharashtra, the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar, and the Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition. He said that Muslim politicians who were well-known under Vajpayee were gradually phasing out under Modi’s leadership, and he attacked the BJP for allegedly marginalizing them.
Particularly in Mumbai, where he was campaigning for Congress candidates Varsha Gaikwad and Bhushan Patil, Tharoor voiced optimism about the party’s chances in the current Lok Sabha elections.
