Aam Admi Party chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal mounted a stingy attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying it was time for India to ‘get rid of him’.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, where 26 opposition parties met to discuss and chalk out a plan against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Kejriwal did not mince words saying it had been almost a decade that Modi, in his position as Prime Minister, did nothing for the country.
“PM Modi got many opportunities to do a lot for this country in nine years, but no development happened. He has made a complete mess of almost every sector in the country. The economy is in shambles, there is so much hatred among the people, rising inflation, unemployment… I think it is time for the country to get rid of him,” he told reporters.
‘INDIA’ stands in BJP’s way: Kharge
After the meeting, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced the opposition alliance will be called as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
Addressing a joint press conference after a meeting of 26 opposition parties in Bengaluru, Kharge said, “This was a very important meeting to save democracy and the Constitution in the interest of the people of the country. We have come together and discussed various points. With one voice, people supported the resolution adopted today,” he said.
Demand for caste census
The Opposition leaders asserted their alliance called INDIA (Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance) is a fight against the politics of hatred and violence of minorities as well as rising crimes against women, Dalits, tribals and Kashmiri Pandits”.
In their ‘Samuhik Sankalp (joint resolution) released after the meeting, the parties expressed their steadfast resolve for an alternative political, social and economic agenda.
“We have come together to defeat the hatred and violence being manufactured against minorities; stop the rising crimes against women, Dalits, adivasis and Kashmiri Pandits; demand a fair hearing for all socially, educationally and economically backward communities; and, as a first step, implement the Caste Census,” the parties said in their resolution passed “in one voice” at the meeting.
Kattar Bhrashtachar Sammelan: Modi
Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi literally blew the political bugle for the forthcoming Assembly polls in a BJP-ruled states, and launched an all-out attack on the gathering, calling it a coalition of corrupt parties, which promote dynasties and indulge in politics of appeasement.
He described the Opposition parties’ meeting as “kattar bhrashtachar sammelan”, adding that they are not what they look from outside.
“In democracy, the motto is ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’. However for these dynasty-driven parties, the motto is ‘for the family, by the family and of the family’. For them it is family first and nation nothing,” PM Modi said, berating the opposition.
(With inputs from agencies)
