New Delhi: Asserting that the proposed “grand Opposition alliance” is merely a “grand race” by his rivals to be the Prime Minister and is driven by the agenda of “personal survival”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Opposition’s only goal was to remove him.
In an interview to Swarajya, Mr Modi said that “hatred for Modi” is the “sole gluing force”. He expressed confidence that people will vote the BJP back to power in the next Lok Sabha elections.
The Prime Minister went on to say that he is “not a Shahenshah or an imperious ruler” unaffected by the warmth of the people. He said he gained strength from his interactions with the public. As far as Jammu and Kashmir was concerned, Mr Modi said that the Centre’s goal in the state has always been “good governance, development, responsibility and accountability”.
“The proposed grand Opposition alliance is merely a “grand race” by his rivals to be the Prime Minister,” he added. Making fun of the Congress, he said that the Rahul Gandhi-led Party was now just a regional party and cannot act as the cementing force or anchor for any alliance of Opposition parties against him. Mr Modi said that the next election would be a choice between governance and development on one side and chaos on the other.
“In any election, a non-ideological and opportunist coalition is the best guarantee for chaos,” he said, describing Karnataka as “a trailer of what is possibly in store”. Rejecting comparisons of an Opposition alliance with a similar arrangement by the BJP in 1977 and 1989 elections, he said the common motive in 1977 was to “protect democracy” following the Emergency.
The Opposition joined hands 12 years later after the “record-breaking corruption” of Bofors had hurt the entire nation, he said.
“Today, these alliances are not motivated by national good but they are about personal survival and power politics. They have no agenda except to remove Modi,” he said. Observing that a large and diverse NDA is good for India’s democracy, the PM said it was most important to respect regional aspirations and the NDA is committed to fulfilling them.
“The NDA is a large and happy family of over 20 parties. It is leading strong coalitions in various states of India. Which other alliance has such an impressive membership and is serving in so many states?” he asked.
Playing down his party’s losses in bypolls, especially in UP, Mr Modi said the BJP had not done well in some local elections in Gujarat before the 1998 Assembly polls but went on to win a two-thirds majority.
Reacting to the comments made by the PM, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is always in campaign mode. What does he expect the Opposition to do? Not oppose him?”
