Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said the Congress or the campaigning of Priyanka Gandhi can not be faulted for the result in Uttar Pradesh. "I think the issues are rather larger for the party as well as for party viability in some states where our presence has been systematically going down," Tharoor said adding that the Indian voter is always capable of throwing up surprises and BJP will get to know it one day. The Congress leader was talking at the Jaipur Literature Festival.
Tharoor accepted that the Congress could have done much better in Uttarakhand and in Goa. "But mind you in both the states the number of voters are relatively small, and that perhaps contributed," Tharoor said.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra did remarkable and energetic campaigning for the party, and "from my point of view, I don't think that the Congress per se can be faulted because on the grounds of one person's campaigning", Tharoor added.
“You would have seen her everywhere, including getting arrested a couple of times by the Uttar Pradesh Police. You have seen her very much on the spot and running through the state,” Tharoor said.
{{/usCountry}}“You would have seen her everywhere, including getting arrested a couple of times by the Uttar Pradesh Police. You have seen her very much on the spot and running through the state,” Tharoor said.
{{/usCountry}}Questioning the so-called experts' opinion, Tharoor said that before the exit polls came,most people were expecting a very, very close fight in Uttar Pradesh. “Some were saying anecdotally that Samajwadi Party was ahead,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)