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Top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on Friday pooh-poohed fresh attempts by opposition parties to stitch an alliance against the saffron party for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and variedly described the Patna meeting as like wolves hunting in packs, a "drama" and mere "photo opportunity".
As 17 opposition parties met in Patna on Friday to chalk out their strategy with less than a year left for the general elections, Union minister Smriti Irani took a swipe at their unity efforts, saying the 'prey' of the leaders is the future of India.
"It is said that wolves hunt in packs! A political pack met in Patna. Their 'prey' is the future of India," she told reporters in Delhi. She also described the planned front as a "".
The remarks by the BJP leaders came as 17 opposition parties resolved to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly to defeat the saffron party and work with flexibility by setting aside their differences. They dubbed the planned alliance as "unholy and opportunistic".
While BJP chief J P Nadda said the participating leaders were those who were jailed by the Congress during Emergency, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said opposition unity is "nearly impossible". Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur called the meeting a "drama".
Shah also slammed former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who attended the meeting, saying he has the habit of criticising everything.
"A photo session is happening in Patna. All the opposition leaders have come together on a single platform to convey the message that they will challenge the BJP, the NDA and (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi (in 2024)," Shah said at a rally in Jammu.
"All I want to say to these opposition leaders is that your unity is nearly impossible and even if it happens, irrespective of how unitedly you appear in front of people in 2024, Modi's return with more than 300 seats is confirmed."
Nadda, who was in Odisha's Kalahandi district, said leaders who were jailed by former prime minister Indira Gandhi during Emergency are now welcoming her grandson, Rahul Gandhi.
"Strange things are happening in politics today. Leaders jailed by Indira Gandhi have now joined hands with her grandson, Rahul Gandhi."
He pointed out that RJD supremo Lalu Prasad was jailed for 22 months, while JD-U chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was behind bars for 20 months during Emergency.
"I saw Uddhav Thackeray reaching Patna to attend the opposition meeting. His father, 'Hindu Hriday Samrat' Balasaheb Thackeray, was opposed to the Congress all along. Balasaheb had once said he will shut the 'dukaan' (referring to his political party, Shiv Sena) rather than joining the Congress. Now, his son is closing down the 'dukaan'," Nadda said.
Irani held two press conferences at the BJP headquarters in Delhi, one ahead of the meeting on Friday morning, and one after it concluded.
Irani, who defeated Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, said the Congress is seeking the support of other parties as it is "incapable of defeating Prime Minister Narendra Modi alone".
She said it is "ironic" that some of the leaders who witnessed the "murder of democracy" during Emergency have assembled under the Congress' 'parasol' in Patna.
"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 palaces to the people. That is why those who take pride in their political legacy will now have to go to those they had put behind bars during Emergency," Irani said.
As the Aam Aadmi Party leaders stayed away from a joint press conference of opposition leaders in Patna, Irani said AAP's blackmailing in the beginning itself shows the future of the "unholy alliance".
"It is ironic that Trinamool Congress Party members today witnessed bonhomie between Mamata Bandopadhyay and that Communist Party, the leadership of which was particularly known for dragging Mamata by her hair, especially when she tried to speak for the people of Bengal," she said referring to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Minister Thakur also took a dig at the Opposition, saying RJD president Lalu Prasad's nudge to Rahul Gandhi to get married was among the top conclusions of the meeting.
"Ahead of the 2024 elections, the stage is being decorated once again, the drama troupe is gathering, characters are being decided, there will be drama, there will be promises to fulfill, people will laugh, and once again Modi ji will take oath as the Prime Minister for the third time with a huge majority," said Thakur.
"New doors of political tourism opened, after eating litti-chokha, rasgulla in Bihar, they will now meet in Shimla."
The meeting was hosted by Nitish Kumar and his deputy and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.
The West Bengal unit of the BJP lashed out at the Congress and the CPI(M) for allegedly "betraying" their grassroot workers engaged in a bitter fight over rural polls in the state by joining hands with the TMC for the Patna meeting.
The saffron camp also termed the meeting as an "opportunistic alliance".
"West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee chief Adhir Chowdhury and CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty will have no right to rush to the aid of their grassroot workers if they are attacked by TMC goons in the run-up to the July 8 panchayat polls," BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya told PTI in Kolkata.
He also claimed that both the Congress and CPI(M) state leaderships stand "exposed in front of the people of West Bengal".