Having told the Parliament earlier that he alone can take on the entire Opposition, why is Prime Minister Narendra Modi getting more than 30 parties together, asked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on July 17.
Referring to the meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) scheduled on July 18, Mr. Kharge claimed that the BJP is rattled by the Opposition unity and is seeking comfort in numbers.
The Congress chief, who is also the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha, said that Opposition parties had been meeting for a long time, especially during Parliament sessions, but he had not heard of 30 NDA partners earlier.
“The PM had said main akela kaafi hoon saare Opposition ke liye [I alone am sufficient for the entire Opposition] while speaking in the Rajya Sabha. Why is he then bringing over 30 parties together? Who are these 30 parties, what are their names, are they all registered with the Election Commission?” Mr. Kharge asked in an apparent swipe at PM Modi.
The Congress chief’s comments were a reference to Mr. Modi’s remarks in February in the Rajya Sabha. The Prime Minister had said, “Desh dekh raha hai, ek akela kitno ko bhari pad raha hai [the country is watching how one person has outweighed so many].”
“Seeing what we are doing they are rattled and are now bringing together those parties that had been splintered and trying to show numbers,” Mr. Kharge told reporters at his official residence before leaving for Bengaluru for the Opposition meet.
Separately, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal tweeted, “The BJP is clearly rattled by our unity and now they are being forced to hold their own ‘alliance meeting’. That, for us, is the biggest sign of our success”.
“We will continue to raise our voice in protest of the undemocratic attitude of the government. They have been running roughshod over the federal structure, silencing dissent, and promoting divisions in society for their political benefit,” Mr. Vengopal added.
Mr. Kharge also responded to BJP’s claim that the Congress ignored its Delhi and Punjab units to support the Aam Aadmi Party on the Ordinance issue and said “the issue was not about one person but about protecting democracy and the Constitution”.
Mr. Kharge also reacted to the Enforcement Directorate’s searches at premises linked to Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister and DMK leader K. Ponmudy and alleged that pressure tactics were being used to break opposition parties’ unity.
