Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday said that his party colleague and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has ignited an enthusiasm amongst younger voters over the last few months.
Tharoor further said the BJP should take this seriously and pay attention to the shift in the public mood.
“…I can tell you that I think Rahul Gandhi has ignited an enthusiasm, particularly amongst younger voters in the last few months, which I think the BJP would be well advised to sit up and pay attention to,” Tharoor said at NDTV’s World Summit 2026.
As Congress has ramped up its attack on the BJP-led central government, Gandhi has led the charge. Amid raging controversy over NEET paper leak and other examination irregularities, Gandhi started a nationwide youth outreach campaign called ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ (voice of the students). He started the campaign with students in June, 2026 in Kota, Rajasthan, which is the hub of coaching institutes in India for aspirants of medical and engineering entrance exams. On October 12, Gandhi joined INDIA bloc’s protest march to the Supreme Court along with MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav and other opposition leaders.
Earlier reporting noted: It is because the BJP has paid attention to Rahul Gandhi that they are “trying to demonise him”, Shashi Tharoor told NDTV on Friday, rejecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charge that the Congress continues to launch a “failed product”. Earlier reporting noted: “I don’t know how long the Congress will continue to put the country at stake for the launch of its failed product. (The Satish Dhawan Space Centre at) Sriharikota does not see as many launches as the Congress tries, unsuccessfully, to launch its leader in a year,” he said.
Since then, the Congress leader has held the programme in different Indian cities such as Chennai, Pune, Dehradun and Indore. Earlier reporting noted: On Thursday, PM Modi, speaking at the NDTV World Summit, without naming the Congress leader took a swipe at him.
Tharoor’s remarks came a day after PM Modi alleged that the Congress was keeping only one person in the limelight and ignoring the voices of young opposition leaders. The PM also accused the Congress of putting India’s reputation at stake to protect its leadership. “Congress can continue on its path of decline; we have no problem with that. But to protect its family from repeated failures, it is putting the country’s reputation on trial.
Without naming LoP Gandhi, PM Modi had said during the same summit” “I don’t know how long Congress will continue putting the country’s interests at stake to launch its failed product. The grapes are so sour that Congress is trying to cut down the very vine that bears them,” Modi said. In a year, there are not as many launches from Sriharikota as the number of failed attempts Congress makes to launch its leader,” Modi said on Thursday.
