Opposition parties are afraid of Modi: BJP

Chennai: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s opposition rally in Kolkata on Saturday is a meeting of opposition party leaders who are “scared” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP state president Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan has said.

Hitting out at the Opposition rally, Dr Tamilisai said on Saturday that the parties that were scattered were coming together as they were afraid of Modi. “The stage in Kolkata shows the extent of their fear of Modiji who has made Stalin (DMK president) talk in Bengali. Similarly, Stalin who always talks about (rationalist leader) Periyar, has now spoken about Swami Vivekananda. And most importantly, from harping on state autonomy, Stalin had to speak about India’s unity. This is Modi’s achievement,” she said while speaking to reporters here on Saturday.

Continuing to train her guns on Stalin, the BJP president sought to know what had prevented him from reiterating Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s name for Prime Ministerial candidate at the Kolkata meeting. “Why was Stalin afraid of reiterating Rahul’s name as PM candidate that he had proposed during the unveiling of (DMK stalwart and late CM) Karunanidhi’s statue in Chennai? Does his policy differ from State to State? Can Stalin talk about corruption given his party’s background?” she asked.

BJP state secretary K.T. Raghavan said he did not see today’s meeting as ganging up of opposition parties against the BJP. The BSP and SP have already finalised their electoral alliance and have offered only two seats to the Congress. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had already announced that there is no truck between his AAP and the Congress.

“I don’t see much significance in this meeting. I feel that this alliance will end with today’s meeting because all those leaders are disunited. They will not emerge as a strong force against the BJP in future,” Raghavan emphasised.

“Their unity is like a pack of cards. If one card falls, then all cards will collapse. These small and regional parties may appear to give the impression that they are attempting to challenge the powerful BJP….their unity will not last,” Narayanan Thirupathy, BJP state executive member and media coordinator has said reacting to Kolkata meeting.