Centre’s stance with China made borders fragile, says Shashi Tharoor

Patna: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday for the “Centre’s stance with China, which had made the country’s borders fragile”.
“They (BJP) have lost the narrative this time. They fought and won the last election in the name of Pulwama attacks and Balakot strikes. This time, they cannot invoke national security issues because we have a lot to say, as China has denied our soldiers patrolling rights over 26 points that we enjoyed for the last 45 years through an agreement between the two countries.We also lost 20 of our soldiers in the Galwan clash. The government did nothing about the encroachment,” he said.
Addressing the media at the party office Sadaqat Ashram, the Congress MP said the PM is only good at rhetoric and propaganda-making, but when it comes to doing anything for the public, he is on the back foot.
Time over for NDA govt: Tharoor
A ssuring that the govt at the Centre would change on June 4, Tharoor said, “Does it suit a person holding the Prime Minister’s post to speak in such a language and do Hindu-Muslim? This is not the type of India I grew up in.”
Referring to the BJP govt’s policies like demonetization, he claimed that the move destroyed India’s MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) in the country. “Last time, important issues like unemployment and demonetization, which had a disastrous impact on MSMEs that mainly depend on liquidity, were sidelined,” the leader added.
Commenting on the PM and the home minister’s frequent visits to Bihar, he said that even they were aware of not getting enough support this time as their voters were disenchanted.
“All of the party’s considered strongholds are registering low voter turnout whereas the INDIA bloc is getting good support of the people, and we are confident of doing well in the elections,” said Tharoor, adding that the NDA won 39 seats in the state in the last election, but still it did not do anything for Bihar, especially during the COVID pandemic.
“During the pandemic, many migrant labourers of the state had to walk back to their homes. What did they (NDA) do for them? If the people of Bihar want to change, they should support the INDIA bloc, and we will fight for you,” he said.