BJP's 'AAP blackmailing Congress' dig at Opposition after unity efforts in Patna
After the Opposition party meeting concluded in Patna, Union minister Smriti Irani held a press conference, terming the alliance ‘selfish’ and 'unholy'.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday downplayed the high-level Opposition meeting held in Patna, Bihar and labelled it as a "selfish" alliance, for which the target was not Prime Minister Narendra Modi but “the future of India”. Union minister Smriti Irani slammed the union of the non-BJP parties, which she termed “unholy”. She also cited the differences between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress, which were “indicative of the alliance's short-lived nature.” (Opposition party meet in Patna LIVE updates)
At a press conference in New Delhi, after the conclusion of the Opposition party meeting in Patna, Irani said, “Today, those parties which couldn’t stand each other in the past, came together, taking a pledge that will hinder India’s development...wolves hunt in packs…a political pack met in Patna today.”
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Irani alleged that whenever these political parties have been together in the past, they have only brought corruption, nepotism and constrained India’s economic development. She raked up the friction between the AAP and the Congress over Delhi ordinance issue and said “AAP’s blackmailing at the beginning itself shows what the future holds for this alliance.”
Irani also reminded the parties of their past differences and slammed them for compromising their ideologies. She said the Tamil Nadu people would never have imagined that the “Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party, which was accused by the top Congress leadership in the 1990s of helping in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, one day would mend ties with the Gandhi family.”
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"It is ironic that today, the Trinamool Congress Party members witnessed bonhomie between Mamata Bandyopadhyay and that Communist Party, the leadership of which was particularly known for dragging the Bengal chief minister by her hair, when she tried to speak for the people of the state,” Irani further said, referring to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.
She also targeted the Congress for joining hands with “Mamata Bandyopadhyay, whose hands are stained with the blood of Congress workers, killed in Bengal.”
Earlier, Union home minister Amit Shah also mocked the meeting, dubbing it as a “photo session.” The Opposition meeting, hosted by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, witnessed 15 parties across the country setting aside their differences to join hands to bring down the BJP in the 2024 general elections. The next meeting will be held in Shimla from July 10-12, where a decision on seat sharing will be taken.
