New Delhi, Nov 2 The Janata Dal (United) on Monday questioned the political relevance of the INDIA bloc, saying its constituents neither agree on common issues nor contest elections together, a day after the opposition alliance held a rally here over the “vote chori” charge.
Party national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad told PTI that the opposition alliance’s repeated meetings and public rallies have “failed” to demonstrate its ability to fight elections jointly.
“There have been several such large rallies and meetings of the INDIA bloc from time to time. But when has any such decision been taken through these meetings that has enabled the INDIA bloc to contest elections together in any state?” he asked.
The opposition INDIA bloc on Sunday called for the BJP’s ouster from power over the “vote chori” charge, with Rahul Gandhi asserting that CEC Gyanesh Kumar will be removed and sent to jail for “treason” in future and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah will not be allowed to escape the law.
In a show of strength, prominent leaders of the grouping addressed the mammoth rally at Ramlila Maidan against alleged electoral irregularities and voter list revision and claimed that the BJP formed governments at the Centre and in states with “stolen” mandate.
Prasad said constituents of the opposition alliance have repeatedly contested elections against one another in several states.
“These parties have contested against each other in many state elections, including in West Bengal, Punjab and Haryana. In Delhi, the Congress and AAP contested the Lok Sabha elections together but fought the Assembly elections against each other. In Kerala, the UDF and LDF contest against each other,” the JD(U) spokesperson said.
He questioned the alliance’s ability to provide a credible political alternative to the NDA led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“On one side, there is Narendra Modi, the leader of the NDA. On the other side, nobody listens to anybody in the INDIA bloc. There is neither consensus on issues nor will they contest elections together. So what message do they want to give to the country through such events?” Prasad said.
Taking a dig at the turnout at Sunday’s rally, he claimed that a substantial number of chairs remained vacant despite the organisers’ claims of a massive gathering.
“This was supposed to be a big rally at the 12-acre Ramlila Maidan. There was talk of bringing 10 lakh people, but around 40 per cent of the chairs were vacant. It is clear that even the workers of these parties were not very enthusiastic about the rally,” he said.
Prasad also questioned the opposition alliance’s ability to translate its public demonstrations into electoral coordination, saying its constituents continued to differ on both political issues and electoral strategies.
(PTI News)
