Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that the BJP will emerge as the single-largest party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. However, there is a possibility that the current government's numbers can be brought down, he added. Speaking during the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) held on the Kozhikode beach, he said, "I strongly feel they can be brought down to a level where several potential allies may not want to join them.”
Talking about the seat-sharing issue among INDIA bloc members, Tharoor hoped for an arrangement in as many states as possible to ensure preventable defeats. The politician-writer said that considering India boasts of diverse shades, it was not important that the INDIA bloc comes to a complete agreement in all states.
Citing the examples of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the Congress politician remarked that while in Kerala "it is hard to imagine CP(M) and Congress agreeing on seat sharing, however, in Tamil Nadu the CPI, CP(M), Congress, and DMK are together and there is no dispute". They fought the last election together and are likely to fight this one too, he said.
He said that it was important to acquaint the people with the fact that the best candidate should be chosen from their constituency. “Everyone should be aware that only people from Varanasi can vote for [Narendra] Modi. Well, if in other places, they want to vote only to ensure that Modi becomes the PM, it is entirely their choice. However, people need to think about who will be good for their region if they want an effective administrator,” Tharoor said.