Kolkata: Congress would win more seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections than it did in 2019, and the INDIA bloc will make thumping victories in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, senior party leader P Chidambaram said on Saturday.
Chidambaram told PTI that neither Hinduism nor the Hindus were under any threat, and it was the BJP's "calculated strategy" to paint the entire Opposition as "anti-Hindu" so as to project Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the "saviour of Hindus".
He said that West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee is a key player in the elections. She has the ability to hold the fort in the state, which would strengthen the INDIA bloc, PTI reported.
Chidambaram said, "I cannot speak for all the states. I can confidently predict that the INDIA bloc will record a resounding victory in Tamil Nadu. In Kerala, the two fronts (UDF and LDF) will share the 20 seats, leaving nothing to the BJP. In Karnataka and Telangana, the Congress governments are popular, and Congress will get many more seats than in 2019."
In 2019, the Congress party won 52 seats in the general elections.
Citing that there are encouraging reports about the INDIA bloc from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi, he said that Congress might show improved performance.
Further, he said that PM Modi's accusal of Opposition parties of appeasement politics and calling them a "band of anti-Hindu politicians bent on breaking India up" is BJP's strategy to face the polls.
"This is the BJP's calculated strategy to paint the entire Opposition as anti-Hindu and to boost Narendra Modi's credentials as the saviour of Hindus. Hinduism is not in danger," he said.