Cong seeking support since it can't defeat PM Modi alone, says Union Minister Smriti Irani on Opposition meet in Patna

Deriding the opposition parties’ efforts to forge a front against the BJP, Senior party leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani said the Congress was seeking the support of other parties because it was “incapable of defeating Prime Minister Narendra Modi alone” in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Top leaders of Opposition parties went into a huddle in Patna on Friday to chalk out a roadmap for the formation of an anti-BJP front for next year’s general elections. The meeting was hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD.

They have sent out a message that they are unable of taking on Modi on their own, she claimed. “I want to especially express gratitude to the Congress for openly announcing that it is incapable of defeating Modi alone. It needs support. Power has moved from the palace to the people,” she added.

That’s why people who take pride in their political legacy now have to go to those whom they had put behind bars during Emergency,” Irani said.

In a veiled attack on Bihar Chief Minister Kumar, she referred to the recent bridge collapse over the Ganga in the state’s Bhagalpur district, and asked, “What kind of democratic bridge will they make who cannot even build a bridge.” “People are becoming alert about those who could not come together on development issues but now adopting the blackmail route,” Irani said

Leaders of Opposition parties from across the country are set to meet in Patna to chalk out a strategy to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

As leaders of several opposition parties arrived in Patna on Thursday, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary decided to skip the conclave due to a “pre-decided family program”. Chaudhary, however, hoped the meeting will be an “important milestone in the path of opposition unity”.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti were among the leaders who reached Patna ahead of the meeting.

On her arrival in Patna, Mamata Banerjee called on Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) patriarch and former Bihar CM Lalu Yadav and his son and state Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav.

The Opposition picked Patna as a venue for its meeting as it represents the 1974 call of total revolution by Jayaprakash Narayan that toppled Indira Gandhi’s majority government.

With inputs from PTI

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