Opposition has no leader, alliance or real issue: Jaitley
NEW DELHI: There is no leader, no gathbandhan (alliance), no common minimum programme, no issue against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and, not many takers for a failed Opposition campaign, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday.
In a Facebook post titled “India’s Opposition is on a ‘Rent a Cause’ Campaign”, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said after the first phase of voting, the “Modi factor” was writ large across the country.
“Amit Shah’s challenge to the BJP workers to prepare for a 50% voting target in the BJP stronghold states, even where there are opposition alliances, seems to be coming through,” he wrote.
Jaitley claimed the Opposition was in disarray in many states as many of its proposed alliances had not worked out — there were verbal battles between the Left parties, Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Congress, and of late between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress.
As for the leadership issue, the situation was gloomier than expected, he said, adding that Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee (TMC) were leaving no stone unturned in running down Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
To oust a popular government and Prime Minister, the Opposition needed some real issues, he said. The Opposition wasted the past two years “manufacturing issues” that did not exist, he said, referring to its charges on the Rafale fighter jet deal, loan waivers to industrialists and rigging of electronic voting machines.