Alternative to PM Modi is group of experienced leaders not driven by individual ego: Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor. File Pic

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said the question of who could be an alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "irrelevant" as in a parliamentary system people are not electing an individual but a party or a coalition of parties.

He said the alternative to Prime Minister Modi is a group of experienced, capable and diverse leaders who will be responsive to people's problems and not driven by individual ego.

In a post on X, Tharoor said, "Yet again a journalist has asked me to identify an individual who is the alternative to Mr Modi. The question is irrelevant in the Parliamentary system."

"We are not electing an individual (as in a presidential system), but a party, or coalition of parties, that represents a set of principles and convictions that are invaluable to preserve India's diversity, pluralism and inclusive growth," the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.

"The alternative to Mr Modi is a group of experienced, capable and diverse Indian leaders who will be responsive to people's problems and not driven by individual ego," Tharoor asserted.

Which specific person they will choose to be the prime minister is a secondary consideration, the Congress Working Committee member said.

"Protecting our democracy and diversity comes first," Tharoor asserted.

Tharoor is seeking a record fourth term from Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram.

Meanwhile, the Congress on Tuesday claimed that after Anantkumar Hegde, another leader of the ruling BJP, Jyoti Mirdha, has openly said that the party's aim is to change the Constitution, while asserting that it is a "deliberate strategy".

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor shared on X a post on an undated video of Mirdha, the BJP candidate from Rajasthan's Nagaur in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, in which she is purportedly heard talking about the need for the saffron party to secure a majority in both Houses of Parliament to be able to make constitutional amendments.

"After Anant Hegde let the cat out of the bag, BJP leaders hastily stuffed it back in and dropped him from their candidate list. Now another BJP candidate openly says the BJP's aim is to change the Constitution," Tharoor said on X.

How many more candidates can the BJP disavow for revealing the truth, he asked.

Reacting to Tharoor's post, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on X: "These are all orchestrated by the MahaSutradhar himself. It is deliberate strategy."

(With inputs from Agencies)