Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for calling the Opposition alliance INDIA “Ghamandia” (arrogant), saying that the jibe smacks of the ruling party’s arrogance while asserting that the INDIA alliance has offered a credible alternative to the country’s people.
Addressing a press conference on Friday after the conclusion of the two-day meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in Mumbai, NCP leader asked, “Who is a ghamandia… those who don’t even like us meeting and interacting.”
“We will never do anything wrong. We will try to bring those taking the wrong side on the right path. But we won’t hesitate to sideline those who refuse to take the right path,” the former union minister said.
While working in politics, Pawar said, one needs to keep their feet firmly on the ground. “But the BJP seems to have forgotten this and called us ghamandia. In a democracy, meetings and interactions over programmes and policies are necessary,” he said.
The BJP had dubbed the INDIA alliance as “ghamandia” earlier, saying that it was formed to promote and protect the interests of families at the helm of their member parties. It alleged that leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Lalu Prasad Yadav were more likely to be driven by the future of their children in politics than the country’s development.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra claimed that the goal of the alliance is “maximum parivarvaad”.
The INDIA bloc on Friday resolved to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls together “as far as possible”, asserting that seat-sharing arrangements in states will be concluded at the earliest in a spirit of “give-and-take”. A total of 28 political parties came together in Mumbai for the third meeting of the INDIA alliance.
“We, the INDIA parties, hereby resolve to organize public rallies at the earliest in different parts of the country on issues of public concern and importance,” the resolution said.
The alliance adopted a resolution to this effect and said its theme for the elections will be “Judega Bharat, Jeetega India, (India will unite, India will win)”.