The Opposition INDIA bloc has decided to sit in the opposition, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP are "subverting the will of the people," Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said.
"The INDIA bloc will continue to resist the fascist rule... We will take appropriate steps at the appropriate time to realise the people's desire not to be ruled by the BJP," he added quickly, reading out a statement adopted by all the alliance partners after a strategy session at his Delhi residence on Wednesday.
The statement has dashed off speculation that the Opposition is planning to snatch away Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister-elect Chandrababu Naidu from NDA's fold.
But soon after the two erstwhile allies signed up the NDA with formal letters of support, the Opposition's hopes of a realignment that would put the INDIA bloc on the driver's seat have taken a back seat.
Amid speculation of the INDIA bloc sending feelers to the Nitish Kumar-led JD-U and the Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP, the 'kingmakers' of the 2024 polls, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday welcomed 'all parties with similar values' in its strategy meet ahead of the next government formation at the Centre.
"The INDIA bloc welcomes all parties which share its fundamental commitment to the values enshrined in the Preamble to our Constitution and to its many provisions for economic, social, and political justice," Kharge said at the INDIA bloc meeting on Wednesday.
In his opening remarks, he also extended congratulations and thanked the INDIA bloc allies for putting up a valiant fight against the BJP-led NDA, saying, "We fought well, fought unitedly, fought resolutely." Kharge also took the opportunity to hit out at Narendra Modi and his style of politics and said the people's mandate indicates that it was a clear 'moral defeat' for him.
"The mandate is decisively against Mr. Modi, against him and the substance and style of his politics. It is a huge political loss for him personally apart from being a clear moral defeat as well," he said.
The INDIA bloc meeting was attended by top Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, K.C. Venugopal. Party chiefs of many alliance partners including Sharad Pawar, M.K. Stalin, Sitaram Yechury, Champai Soren, Akhilesh Yadav, and Tejashwi Yadav also attended the meeting.
Others who joined the meeting included Supriya Sule, T.R. Balu, Ramgopal Yadav, Abhishek Banerjee, Arvind Sawant, Sanjay Yadav, Sanjay Raut, D. Raja, Kalpana Soren, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha, Dipankar Bhattacharya, Omar Abdullah, Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, P.K. Kunhalikutty, Jose K. Mani, Thiru Thol. Thirumavalavan, N.K. Premachandran, M.H. Jawahirullah, G. Devarajan, Thiru E.R. Eswaran, and D. Ravikumar.
(With inputs from IANS)
