Exuding confidence, the national opposition INDIA bloc partners asserted that 'achhe din' will finally dawn on June 4, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be voted out and the Opposition government shall take office.
The alliance leaders also claimed that they would bag at least 46 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, and accused the PM of resorting to blatant lies to divert attention from the real problems confronting the nation.
The INDIA bloc leaders like Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar answered a wide variety of questions from the media in Mumbai, ahead of the fifth and final phase of polling for 13 Lok Sabha seats scheduled in the state on May 20 (Monday).
"In 2014, the PM had promised 'achhe din'. On June 4 (the election results), the 'achche din' will actually begin when the INDIA bloc government will come to office. All these years the BJP defamed and looted the state, shifted businesses from Maharashtra-Mumbai to Gujarat," said Uddhav Thackeray.
He termed it as 'unprecedented' anywhere in the world that the PM himself campaigned for an extra-constitutional government on which the court verdict is pending.
Kharge said that the mood in the state is very favourable for the Opposition and ground reports indicate that the INDIA-MVA would bag at least 46 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra.
Religious divide
To a query on the BJP and PM Modi's allegations that after coming to office, the Congress will run a bulldozer on Lord Ram Temple, Kharge said that "bulldozer is BJP style politics, not ours", and such statements are intended to confuse and incite the people.
"It's impossible to run a bulldozer (on Lord Ram Temple). This is an attempt to instigate the masses in the name of religion. The Election Commission of India must take action against such inflammatory speeches. Everything shall be safe and secure and we shall go as per the Constitution," declared Kharge.
Responding to a question on Veer Savarkar, Pawar said that Veer Savarkar is not a poll issue at all and yet the BJP and the PM are raising it to create confusion.
Referring to BJP President J. P. Nadda's media interview, Uddhav Thackeray said that the other day, Modi called Shiv Sena (UBT) a 'nakli Sena' and 'nakli santaan', tomorrow, they will label RSS as 'nakli' and ban it. "The BJP says that it doesn't need the RSS anymore. Now, in its 100th year, the RSS is also in danger...," Thackeray pointed out.
(With inputs from IANS)
