New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday called ‘I.N.D.I.A’, the Opposition’s newly formed tie-up of 26 parties to take on the BJP in 2024, an alliance of “compulsion”. They can come “paas paas”, but are not “saath, saath”, he said at a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Delhi.
The PM launched a scathing attack on the opposition parties and their show of unity at Bengaluru earlier in the day, claiming that many of them are “baying for each other’s blood” in various states where they are pitted against each other. He cited the examples of the Left parties and the Congress in Kerala, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Congress and Left in West Bengal, and opponents-turned-allies Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar.
“The Left and Congress in Kerala are against each other, baying for each other’s blood, and in Karnataka they are smiling together. The Left and the TMC in West Bengal are constantly fighting. It is an alliance of compulsion. Ye paas paas toh aa sakte hai lekin saath saath nahi,” he said.
The glue that is binding these parties together is that of a “compromise” on values and principles, he added.
In a counter to the Opposition’s coalition named ‘I.N.D.I.A’ — short for ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance’ — Modi, while addressing the NDA meeting, said that “N is New India, D is developed nation and A is aspiration of people and region”.
“Our agenda is positive. NDA was not made for power. It wasn’t in opposition to anyone but for the stability of the country…NDA represents regional aspirations. NDA’s ideology puts the security of the nation, progress, and empowerment of people ahead of everything else,” he went on to say.
The PM further said: “I can make mistakes but I will not do anything with bad intent. Every minute of my life is dedicated to this country.”
The NDA meeting took place at the Ashoka Hotel. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi received leaders of the BJP’s 37 alliance parties at the gate. Chirag Paswan, chief of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), touched Modi’s feet after arriving. He later also met his estranged uncle and Union Minister Pashupati Paras — who helms the other faction of the LJP — and touched his feet as well.
At the end of the meeting, a resolution was passed through voice vote to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha polls under Modi’s leadership and get a majority.
‘Even while in opposition, we pursue positive politics’
While addressing the allies, Modi asserted that the NDA “is not a coalition of compulsion, but one that symbolises contribution”. He said that while India has a long tradition of coalitions, those formed with negativity have never succeeded. He accused the Congress of using coalitions in the 1990s to destabilise the country by forming governments and then pulling them down. On the other hand, he added, the NDA was formed to bring stability, not to topple any government.
Modi said that even when his party was in opposition, they “always did positive politics”.
“In opposition, we brought out the scams of the then governments. However, not once did we insult the mandate of the people. We never took foreign help to destabilise our own government. We never created hurdles in development schemes meant for the country,” he added.
The statement comes in the backdrop of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visits to the UK and the US earlier this year where he criticised the PM and claimed that democracy was under attack in India.
Stressing that no political party is small or big in the alliance, Modi said they are all working towards a single aim — nation-building. “In 2014 and 2019, BJP got majority. But we had the government of NDA and that remained. All the political parties in NDA are those working for the downtrodden and poor,” he said.
Modi further said that while the Opposition is always busy abusing him, he has never discriminated against them, adding that there can be competitiveness in politics, but not enmity.
“Unfortunately, the Opposition has made it its identity to abuse us but we have always kept India above all political interests. It is the NDA government that conferred Bharat Ratna on Pranab da (Mukherjee) who spent his entire political career with the Congress. NDA also conferred the Padma award on Sharad Pawar, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Tarun Gogoi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Muzaffar Baig, and many other leaders who were not with BJP-NDA. We accepted and appreciated their work for nation-building.”
The prime minister termed the alliance a legacy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L. K. Advani, and said that Balasaheb Thackeray and Parkash Singh Badal played a key role in shaping the NDA.
Expressing confidence that the alliance would return to power for a third term, Modi said the NDA’s vote share was 38 per cent in 2014 and 45 per cent in 2019. “In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, NDA’s vote share will be above 50 per cent because of its allies who are working hard.”
He said the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are not far and people have decided that the NDA will be given a chance for the third time. “Desh ka mann hum jaante hai lekin videsh ka mann bhi bohot kuch sanket de raha hai (We can gauge the thoughts of the nation but even foreign nations are giving a lot of signals).”
The PM said whenever elections are near, it has an impact on foreign relations too. “Any other country thinks a hundred times before committing. They think, let’s wait for the election results…But right now the situation in India is different. Everyone knows elections are due in a few months but a number of countries including America, France, Australia, Japan, UAE, UK etc., all are inviting representatives of the NDA and they are giving them respect…they are doing major agreements. Because even they know that people of India trust the NDA…Even the foreign countries know that people of India believe in the NDA,” he added.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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