Defending Madhya Pradesh chief minister-designate Kamal Nath over allegations of his involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has asserted that the former should get the same "benefit of doubt" which Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given in 2002 Gujarat riots.
Interacting with members of the All India Professional Congress here, Tharoor further said that the charges against Nath were not proven in the court of law.
On being asked whether the Congress has lost the moral high ground to the BJP by choosing Nath for chief minister's post in Madhya Pradesh, Tharoor said, "So far, no court has found any evidence against him to convict him. It is wrong to make a judgement based on unsubstantiated and unproven allegations. Prime Minister Modi has not been convicted by any court of law. Let us give Kamal Nath the same benefit of doubt that BJP wants us to give Modi and anybody else."
The Congress MP also said that the Congress is the only substitute to the "discredited" BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. "We have to work with parties that are more powerful than us in some states because our main objective is to stop the BJP coming into power in 2019 elections. In the long term, we need to restore our connection with the people and should not rely on allies," he added.
Nath will take oath as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister on December 17 in Bhopal.
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