Top Opposition leaders issued a rallying cry against the BJP-led NDA, insisting that it was time to form a ‘new alliance’. The remarks came during a rally to mark the birth anniversary of former deputy prime minister and INLD founder Devi Lal.
Senior politicians including NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant were in attendance on the invitation of INLD’s OP Chautala.
“There is no NDA now. BJP allies like Shiv Sena, Akali Dal and JD(U) have left it to save democracy,” opined RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav at the rally.
“The real NDA is sitting here, it was founded by Shiv Sena, Akali Dal and JD(U). We stood by BJP when it was a relatively smaller party. But now it is time to forge an alliance for farmers and labourers,” added Badal. He also said that it was time for “all like-minded parties to unite under the flag of farmers and labourers and work for their welfare”.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called for uniting all opposition parties – including the Congress and the Left – to take on the BJP and said this “main front of opposition” will ensure that the saffron party loses badly in the 2024 general elections.
“I’ll urge all parties, including Congress, to get together and then they (BJP) will lost badly. My only wish is that we all need to come together at the national level… We need to bring together more parties,” he said.
