“People Will Focus On Their Own Realities”

As the head of the All India Professional Congress, Shashi Tharoor will play a significant role in shaping the Congress party’s manifesto for the Lok Sabha election. In an exclusive interview with Kaushik Deka, the Lok Sabha MP explains how his party is gearing up to fight the BJP in an environment dominated by the narrative of terrorism and national security. Excerpts:

Q Do you think the recent developments, following the Pulwama attack, have given the BJP an electoral advantage? Hasn’t the narrative shifted from Rafale, unemployment and the farmers’ crisis to national security and Pakistan?

The media sets the narrative, not the political parties, though the government clearly leans toward the security narrative, where it can thump its 56-inch chest and promote its “muscular” majoritarian nationalism. This ploy will not work for long because people will again focus on their own realities and remember that achhe din never came.

Q. Is it important that the government gives proof of the impact of the air strike in Pakistan?