‘In southern states, situation has turned in our favor’

Veteran Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram feels the fervor for militant, extreme, right-wing Hinduism is working in favor of the BJP in the Hindi belt.

“Our Hinduism is more inclusive,” he says in an interview with The Hindu.

He spoke on various issues, including the alleged misuse of Central agencies, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and more.

He said: “In Tamil Nadu, the situation is no different from 2019 or 2021.

“The DMK-led alliance, the INDIA Front, will score resoundingly as it did in 2019 and 2021.

“In the southern states, the situation has turned in our favor.

“We have governments today in Karnataka and Telangana. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is on the verge of disintegration.

“In Karnataka, the Janata Dal (Secular) is practically wiped out by the BJP.

“Therefore, in Karnataka and Telangana, we hope to do far better than in 2019 when we got two and three seats, respectively.

“Of course, the 20 seats in Kerala will be shared by the Left Democratic Front and the United Democratic Front (UDF). I think that the UDF will have a slight edge, and nothing will be left for the BJP,” said the former minister.