Oppn parties speaking against Cong will unite to defeat BJP: Tharoor

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday exuded confidence that opposition parties which have been speaking against the grand old party will come together as they share the same goal of defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The former Union minister mocked the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre over its decision to observe 'good governance week' and said the 'substance of good governance' is missing for the last seven years as the politics of slogans and symbolism have replaced good governance.

Tharoor, who was speaking at the launch of his book Pride, Prejudice and Punditry, said, "Free voices are being stifled in the country presently."

The book launch programme was organised by Prabha Khaitan Foundation.

"In politics even one week is a very long time. So there is still two and a half years to go for the next Lok Sabha poll. We are hopeful that those who are speaking in different voices will come together to defeat BJP. The goal is to defeat not just the BJP but also its policies and politics," he said at the sidelines of the event.

Several opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress have attacked Congress for its failure to put up a fight against the BJP.

Asserting that good governance has been missing in the country for the last seven years since the BJP-led NDA came to power at the Centre, Tharoor said, "My big problem with this government is that there is no good governance for 52 weeks of the year. So having good governance for just one week may not be enough. They (NDA) need to get their act together and serve the entire time of the year and not just once."

Keeping up his attack, Tharoor said "The problem with this government is that all these (good governance week) are gestures, the politics of symbolism, the politics of slogans. What you need to see is the substance of good governance, which has been missing. All we have is politics of slogans and symbolism."

The Centre will launch a nation wide campaign on Monday for redressal of public grievances and improvising service delivery, especially in rural areas as part of the Good Governance Week.

A series of programmes are planned by the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions during the week to be observed during December 20-25.