Reject "Misrule, Politics Of Bigotry": Shashi Tharoor To UP In Poll Debut

The assembly elections are to determine if the people of Uttar Pradesh want to reject the "misrule" of last five years in the state and send a message to those ruling and pushing "regressive" policies in Delhi, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said today.

Making his debut in the Uttar Pradesh poll campaign from Noida, the Lok Sabha MP told people "not to underestimate" the elections as he stressed that political developments in the state have a "resonance and impact" throughout the country.

Interacting with a group of city residents, Mr Tharoor, who was batting for Congress' Noida candidate Pankhuri Pathak, said even though people have a single vote to cast but its importance in multi-pronged.

"Your first vote is to elect who is going to be your voice in the elected assembly and who is going to look after your interests as a city and an urban space. Your second vote is to help determine who forms the government in Uttar Pradesh in the aftermath of these elections," he said.

"Your third vote is actually to send a message to those who are ruling in Delhi, who are seeking validation in some of their most regressive policies through every affirmation of their strength in Uttar Pradesh," Mr Tharoor said.

The former UN diplomat said Uttar Pradesh is a large state and obviously anything that happens in the state has a resonance and impact throughout the country, adding that it would be the fourth largest democracy in the world in terms of voters if it were a country.

"So determining whether the kind of misrule we have seen in the state for the last five years, the politics, frankly, of thuggishness, of bigotry, of the open and blatant expression of communal prejudice, if all of these are going to be given a fresh lease of life or whether Uttar Pradesh going to say that it rejects that kind of politics," Mr Tharoor said.

He also signified the importance of the polls as a message to the BJP-led central government, which he accused of pushing "regressive policies" and changing the "ethos, soul of India".

"As you know our ruling party in Delhi, which in many ways is trying some of the worst practices that this country has had to live with, has begun to change in many ways the nature, the ethos, the soul of India," he said.

"This party needs a comfortable victory in Uttar Pradesh both to be able to assert that its model is vindicated and also to have more Rajya Sabha MPs who would be coming into the Upper House of Parliament in order to shore up their strength for the kind of things they want to do including electing president and vice president as well as putting forward some of their more regressive laws in both houses of Parliament," he added.

Throughout the attack on the state government and the Centre, Mr Tharoor refrained from naming BJP or any particular leader, maintaining he does not want to engage in "negative campaign".

Seeking votes for Ms Pathak, he listed out civic problems in the city that the people faced and said voice to urban issues was overdue in Noida.

Ms Pathak said Noida has the potential to become the best city of north India.

"Noida has potential in resources, human resources, with so many distinguished people living here who can contribute to the growth of the city but Noida needs a better public representation," she said.

Voting for assembly polls in Noida will take place on February 10. Election results will be announced on March 10.