"Retirement plan ready": Congress' Manickam Tagore takes swipe at PM Modi

Wayanad (Kerala) [India], April 23 : In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling BJP at the Centre, Congress leader Manickam Tagore claimed on Tuesday that his party faces a resounding defeat in Rajasthan and elsewhere in North India, also known as the heartland.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the Congress leader, who is seeking a fresh term in the Lok Sabha from Tamil Nadu this year, said, "The people of India have made up their minds to oust him and send him on retirement on June 4 (the scheduled counting of votes for the 18th Lok Sabha). His retirement plan is ready."
Claiming that the BJP-RSS have always stood 'against reservation', the Congress leader said, "We are a party that has always fought for reservation in the country and introduced quotas. We have been implementing reservations in the country for the last 75 years."
Tagore, the sitting Congress MP from Virudhunagar constituency in Tamil Nadu, is seeking a fresh term in the Lower House this year.
He cast his vote at Thirunagar in Madurai district during polling in the opening phase of the general elections on April 19.
However, he is pitted against formidable challengers in the form of actor-turned-politician Raadhika Sarathkumar, who is the BJP's pick for the constituency, and Vijaya Prabhakaran of the DMDK.
The constituency happens to be the birthplace of K Kamraj, one of the stalwarts of Dravidian politics.
All 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu polled in the first phase, last week. A total of 102 seats across 21 states and UTs voted in Phase 1.
The secular alliance led by the ruling DMK scored a near-clean sweep in Tamil Nadu in the 2019 polls, winning 38 of the 39 seats.