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Tharoor, speaking at the Kolkata Literature Festival, said the idiom of the Indian narrative has “overwhelmingly” moved to the north, “the so-called BIMARU states such as Bihar, MP, UP, moving from places like Bengal or Kerala”.
“The south and northeast will become irrelevant as compared to the north,” he said.
Referring to a “trivial fact,” Tharoor said in Parliament, BJP ministers reply in Hindi to questions asked in English, as “this is their audience”.
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Tharoor said, “The old idiom that when Bengal catches cold India sneezes, is no truer. Instead, now if northern India catches a cold, Bengal, Kerala sneezes. It is their cold affecting us.”
He said that one magical thing about the country is that one can be a good Bengali, a good Muslim, but also a good Indian.
“You are secure of your different identities because you are secure of your Indian identity guaranteed by the Constitution,” the three-time Congress MP added.