New Delhi, Aug 28 (IANS) The Congress on Friday defended its MP Shashi Tharoor after he hailed India’s resilient democracy amid Gen Z protests, calling it the party’s “gift” to the country, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remarked that he “stays among communists” in Kerala.
A day before, Congress MP Tharoor praised India’s democratic resilience, stating that the “Indian system bent, didn’t break” in the face of recent Gen Z protests.
Reacting to it, Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said: “I will proudly give the credit for this to Congress. If we have given something to the country in 70 years, that is a strong democracy and strong democratic institutions despite attempts being made to weaken these in the past 12 years, whether it is the RBI, judicial system, bureaucracy or use of ED, CBI etc.”
“Despite these efforts (of the ruling alliance), the students kept democracy alive. Only because of a strong democracy, students could react like this; otherwise, we have seen in other countries how people violently react after their trust in the system breaks…So whatever he (Tharoor) said is right,” he told IANS.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Dinesh Sharma claimed: “Shashi Tharoor’s thoughts are different; he stays among the communists in Kerala.”
Speaking to IANS, he referred to Gen Z as that “dream of the BJP whose wholesome development has been the target since Prime Minister Narendra Modi first took oath (as Prime Minister) in 2014”.
“Today initiatives like Startup India, Stand-Up India, Make in India and Digital India have become the biggest platforms for the welfare of the youth,” Sharma added.
He said that though people may have differing opinions, but the party is constantly working in favour of Gen Z, “who also represent the ‘Bal Swayamsevak’ of the RSS and youth wing members of the BJP”.
On Thursday, while speaking at the NDTV World Anviksha Summit, Tharoor offered a detailed comparison of how political systems across South Asia responded to youth-led agitations over the past decade.
He noted that six major South Asian countries, including Pakistan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India, have witnessed significant protests by their young populations in recent years.
“The difference among them is in the political systems in these countries and how the political establishment responded and dealt with them,” he observed.
–IANS
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