Fatehabad (Haryana): "There is no NDA now. BJP allies like Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, JD(U) have left it to save our Constitution and the democracy," claimed RJD's Tejashwi Yadav at the INLD rally held in Fatehabad on Sunday. Addressing the rally to mark former deputy prime minister Devi Lal's birth anniversary here, he also accused the BJP of making false claims and promises and dubbed the party as "Badka Jhuta Party" (big liar party).
With Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar, Shiromani Akali Dal's Sukhbir Singh Badal and Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant also present on the stage, he noted that they were all once members of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), but have left it considering the Constitution and democracy. "Where is the NDA now?" he asked rhetorically.
Further taking a flay at the central government, he said alleged that Home Minister Amit Shah is so oblivious to the reality that he recently mentioned an airport in the Purnea region of Bihar at a public meeting even though no airport exists in the city.
Since Nitish Kumar broke his alliance with the centre-ruling BJP recently last month, he has been putting avid efforts to bring the non-BJP parties together. As a pivotal part of these efforts, he has held talks with a number of key leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, NCP's Sharad Pawar and AAP's Arvind Kejriwal. However, with the absence of the Congress, which has been a staunch adversary of the INLD in Haryana, and some regional bigwigs like Banerjee and Rao from the rally, a grand opposition alliance remains a work in progress.
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Kumar and RJD president Lalu Prasad are also likely to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi after the rally to take the process forward. "It will be a historic meeting that will mark the consolidation of like-minded forces against the ruling BJP in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," JD(U) leader KC Tyagi has said.
Birender Singh's equation with the BJP leadership has soured for some time even though his son Brijendra Singh is a Lok Sabha member of the party from Hisar in Haryana. Tyagi, a veteran socialist leader, has been working actively to ensure the participation of most opposition leaders in the rally. For the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the rally is seen as a show of strength by the party which is fighting for survival in Haryana following a split after its patriarch Om Prakash Chautala's elder son Ajay Chautala formed Jannayak Janata Party, a BJP ally.
The JJP had managed to secure most of the traditional INLD votes in the last assembly polls. ''Opposition leaders from across the country will come on one stage in this rally and it will further strengthen the unity among parties before the 2024 elections,'' INLD national general secretary Abhay Chautala said. Lok Sabha member and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party's Hanuman Beniwal, a former BJP ally from Rajasthan, will also attend the rally besides former Haryana minister Venod Sharma, Tyagi said.
INLD leader and former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala has also sent invitations to several other regional bigwigs, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and TDP's Chandrababu Naidu, for attending the public meeting. TMC MLA Vivek Gupta will represent the party at the rally, a senior leader of West Bengal's ruling party had said on Friday. (With Agency Inputs)
