NEW DELHI — Leaders of 38 parties joined a meeting of the BJP-led NDA here on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that the bloc is a time-tested alliance that seeks to further national progress and fulfil regional aspirations.
Prime Minister Modi was welcomed by BJP president J P Nadda, Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, former Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK leader K Palaniswami and Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.
The meeting coincides with the mega opposition conclave in Bengaluru and is seen as a show of strength by the ruling party.
Prime Minister Modi said the coming together of NDA allies is a matter of "immense joy".
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]He tweeted, "It is a matter of immense joy that our valued NDA partners from across India will be attending the meeting in Delhi today. Ours is a time-tested alliance which seeks to further national progress and fulfil regional aspirations."
‘Happy to join NDA leaders in commemorating 25yrs of NDA, representing NDPP along with Abu Metha, Secretary General of NDPP. No alliance has been intact for this long. It reflects the able leadership of Shri Narendra Modi ji. Thankful for his focus and support to the NE region,’ tweeted Rio.
Union minister Pralhad Joshi and BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde welcomed the leaders, from the BJP as well as allies, who arrived at the venue of the meeting.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]This will be the first such meeting of the National Democratic Alliance during the second term of the Modi government.
It underscores the ruling party's focus on highlighting its ability to make alliances at a time when opposition parties were coming together to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Oppn coalition named INDIA
A group of 26 opposition parties on Tuesday demanded the implementation of the caste census while asserting that they have come together to defeat the "hatred and violence being manufactured against minorities" as well as "rising crimes against women, Dalits, tribals and Kashmiri Pandits".
The opposition alliance that will take on the ruling NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be called Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and an 11-member committee will be set up for coordination, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced after a meeting of the parties here.
In their 'Samuhik Sankalp (joint resolution)' released after the meeting, the parties expressed their steadfast resolve to safeguard the idea of India as enshrined in the Constitution.
"The character of our republic is being severely assaulted in a systematic manner by the BJP. We are at a most crucial juncture in our nation's history. The foundational pillars of the Indian Constitution secular democracy, economic sovereignty, social justice and federalism are being methodically and menacingly undermined," they alleged.
The parties said they are determined to combat and confront the continuing assault on the Constitution and on constitutional rights of democratically elected state governments.
"There is a deliberate attempt to weaken the federal structure of our polity. The role of governors and LGs (lieutenant governor) in non-BJP ruled states has exceeded all constitutional norms," the opposition parties said in the resolution.
The silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "shocking and unprecedented", the opposition parties said, asserting that there is an urgent need to bring Manipur back on the path of peace and reconciliation.
"We have come together to defeat the hatred and violence being manufactured against minorities; stop the rising crimes against women, Dalits, adivasis and Kashmiri Pandits; demand a fair hearing for all socially, educationally and economically backward communities; and, as a first step, implement the caste census," the parties said in their resolution passed "in one voice" at the meeting.
Top opposition leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Kharge, chief ministers of West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, and former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra along with presidents and leaders of several parties attended the meeting.