NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a blistering attack on INDIA (Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance), the new acronym for the Opposition alliance, at a BJP Parliamentary Party meeting here on Tuesday.
Calling the 26-party Opposition alliance the most directionless the country had ever seen, he cited reviled names like the East India Company, Indian Mujahideen and Popular Front of India to say people cannot be misled merely by the use of the country’s name.
Briefing the media after the meeting, former law minister and BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Ravi Shankar Prasad quoted Modi as saying that the Opposition alliance’s sole agenda was to oppose the NDA in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, without a clear vision.
Its conduct suggests that it has reconciled to remain in opposition for a long time, Modi said. Modi cited the history of several organisations, including terror outfits that had the country’s name in their nomenclature, adding people cannot be misled by such political tricks.
He urged party members to expose the hidden agenda and corruption of the Opposition and highlight the failures of Opposition-ruled states like West Bengal and Rajasthan.
In his pushback, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said “call us what you want”, but “we are India” and “will rebuild the idea of India in Manipur”.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge criticised the PM in the Rajya Sabha for neglecting pressing issues like Manipur while focusing on historical references. Later, in a tweet in Hindi, he said, “The Congress has always been with ‘Mother India’ i.e. ‘Bharat Mata’.”
Trinamool Congress members Derek O’Brien and Mahua Moitra asked the PM to prioritise discussions on important issues in Parliament rather than making statements outside it.