BJP can win ‘double digit’ number in Kerala if…: Shashi Tharoor crunches number ahead of Lok Sabha polls 2024

Mocking BJP's claim that it will secure seats in double digits in Kerala in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, stated on Wednesday, that the only way they could achieve a ‘double digit’ in Kerala would be by obtaining two zeros.

"Otherwise, there is only one digit coming the BJP's way in Kerala, and that is zero," Tharoor told media.

, during his speech at the BJP meeting in the state, urged voters to vote for the saffron party so that it can win double digits in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls 2024.

Commenting on the claim, Thiruvananthapuram MP told ANI, “"I don't think the BJP is going to win a single seat in Kerala. Their strongest performance has always been in Thiruvananthapuram... I am not expecting that they will be anything better than that this time around either. Everywhere else, we have strong candidates."

The Thiruvananthapuram MP cited that BJP's reach in Kerala is limited as the saffron party is yet to understand the culture and history of the state. 

He adds, "I think the BJP's support base is limited in our state. Their kind of appeal is based on Hindutva, Hindi, Hindu and Hindustan- their kind of message does not fly very well here in Kerala."

Noting that people of different faiths cohabit peacefully, he said, as reported by PTI, "We have had more than 2,000 years of living together. Our relationship with each other is one of welcome and acceptance," Tharoor said.

Kerala welcomed Jews when they came here after the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians, which is about 500 years before Christ was born. 

“Today, Jews tell me this is the only Jewish Diaspora that never knew a single instance of anti-Semitic persecution in the world."

On the Christian and the Muslim community in the state, he added, 

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