NEW DELHI, June 23:
The BJP on Friday derided the Opposition parties’ efforts to forge a front against it and said the Congress was seeking the support of others because it was “incapable of defeating Prime Minister Narendra Modi alone” in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Top leaders of Opposition parties went into a huddle in Patna on Friday to chalk out a roadmap for the formation of an anti-BJP front for next year’s general elections. The meeting was hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD.
BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani took a dig at JD(U) and other opposition parties, saying it was “ironic” that some of the leaders who witnessed the “murder of democracy” during the Emergency have assembled under the Congress’ parasol in Patna.
They have sent out a message that they are unable to take on Modi on their own, she claimed. “I want to especially express gratitude to the Congress for openly announcing that it is incapable of defeating Modi alone. It needs support.”
“Power has moved from the palace to the people. That’s why people who take pride in their political legacy now have to go to those whom they had put behind bars during the Emergency,” Irani said.
In a veiled attack on Bihar Chief Minister Kumar, she referred to the recent bridge collapse over the Ganga in the state’s Bhagalpur district, and asked, “What kind of democratic bridge will they make who can not even build a bridge.”
On Rahul Gandhi’s allegations that the BJP was working to “divide India and spread hate and violence”, the Union minister asked if the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, imposition of Emergency and putting innocent people behind the bars under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the period was the Gandhi family’s expression of love.
“Did the Gandhi family express love by getting women raped during the Emergency,” she asked. “Was raising the slogan ‘Bharat tere tukde honge’ in a university an expression of love?”
Irani also took a potshot at Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the latter putting a precondition of support against the Centre’s Ordinance on control of administrative services in Delhi ahead of the Opposition’s mega meeting.
“People are becoming alert about those who could not come together on development issues but are now adopting the blackmail route,” she said when asked about Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal pressing for Congress support on the Ordinance issue.
The AAP sources had on Thursday said its leaders will walk out of Friday’s meeting of opposition leaders in Patna if the Congress does not promise its support against the Centre’s ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi. (PTI)
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