Grand alliance bid anti- people: PM
KOLKATA MEGA RALLY Says people won’t accept the corrupt mahagathbandhan; Cong hits out saying the BJP can’t win Lok Sabha polls
AHMEDABAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday slammed the proposed ‘mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance) of opposition parties, saying it was not just “anti-modi” but against the people of India , and that his political rivals had joined hands to save themselves from his campaign against corruption.
Modi’s remarks came at a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally in Silvassa, in the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli as opposition parties staged a show of strength in Kolkata. “Poori jamaat” (whole opposition) had gathered in West Bengal,and was “pleading for help,” said Modi.
The PM projected the coming general election as a fight between “positivity and negativity”, “development and corruption” and “mahagathbandhan and the people of India.”
“The people who used to slam the Congress left, right and centre are today standing with that party. This Mahagathbandhan is not just against Modi but also against the people of India,” Modi said.
“A party with only one MLA (BJP) with only one MLA (in West Bengal) is giving them (the opposition) sleepless nights. This is because we are followers of truth… Today, the country’s entire opposition has come together and is shouting ‘help, help, help’,” he said.
Modi arrived in Silvassa from Gujarat, where he was on twoday visit to participate in the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2019.
He used his speech at the rally to hit out at Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal government, which has opposed BJP plans to organise a “yatra” (journey) in the state. “Where the BJP is not allowed to take out a yatra, where candidates in local body elections are killed and where democracy in being crushed, the (opposition) leaders there are preaching about saving democracy. It’s truly ironical. After watching this, the nation will say – ‘Wah Kya Scene Hai’” (what a scene).
Coming back to Opposition unity, the PM said his “actions against corruption” had infuriated some people.
“It’s but natural for them to get angry as I’ve prevented them from looting public money. Consequently, they have now formed an alliance called mahagathbandhan, whose only job is to oppose me
“No matter how many gathbandhans they forge to save their families and kingdom, they cannot run away from their misdeeds,” he said.
Modi said that by opposing him, the mahagathbandhan may grab newspaper headlines, but the people of India would not accept such an alliance. “The people of India cannot accept those who have destroyed India,’’ he said.
Speaking at a press conference at the party office in New Delhi, BJP’S national spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy termed the rally an anti-modi
The people who used to slam the Congress ...are today standing with it... Mahagathbandhan is not just against Modi but also against the people of India
NARENDRA MODI, Prime Minister
exercise and said the party was not threatened by such events.
“Don’t know where the threat to unity is. While Mamata calls it United India, we can clearly see a divided leadership. It’s a summit of contradictions and conflict. They talk of a new front but I am not sure if it’s even the second or the third front,” Rudy said. He further said this rally has also exposed divisions in the opposition camp, “many of these parties are just snubbing each other.”
“Left has refused their invitation. SP-BSP alliance snubbed Congress in UP which has now extended support to the rally. This is a rally of self-interest,” he said.
Meanwhile, reacting to PM Narendra Modi, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the prime minister was scared of the Opposition unity and his comments showed his desperation. “What he fails to see is that he has been exposed fully by the Opposition leaders and he know the BJP cannot win next Lok Sabha elections,” he said in Kolkata.