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India not safe in BJP’s hands as nation cannot be ‘built on divides’: Shashi Tharoor

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor insisted that the time had come to build a nation that was "productive, prosperous and safe".
Asserting that a nation cannot be “built on divides”, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said India was not safe in the hands of the BJP government. “…unfortunately, the evidence we have seen in the last four years (of the NDA rule) does not suggest that this country is safe in the hands of the present government,” the former Union minister told a press conference in Lucknow.

Tharoor insisted that the time had come to build a nation that was “productive, prosperous and safe”. “…time has come for us to build a nation that is productive, prosperous, safe and inclusive. We cannot have a nation built on divides,” he added.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP, who campaigned for the Congress candidates in Karnataka, said he didn’t believe the predictions made by most of the exit polls. “I do not believe in some of the exit polls I have seen. Ultimately, what matters is what happens when the ballots are counted on May 15.”
As voting ended in Karnataka on Saturday, six out of eight major exit polls aired by six national television channels and one regional channel, predicted that the BJP would get the largest number of seats in the new assembly. The India Today-Axis exit poll said the Congress would be the single largest party.
“There are three parties in the fray. If it was a straight fight, the answer would have been much easier. Some seats in southern Karnataka will be taken by the JD(S). We are leaving every possibility open,” Tharoor said. “Every Congressman or (party) activist I have met in Karnataka has no doubt that we will be the single largest party. I saw a lot of confidence in them. If you ask about absolute majority for a party, I am afraid that we have to wait till May 15.”

Polling for 222 of the 224-member Karnataka Assembly was held yesterday and the counting of votes will be taken up on Tuesday.