Speaking at the mega rally organised by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, CM Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday, 13 February, took a jibe at PM Modi, saying that the nation needs an educated leader, urging the people to not make the mistake of choosing a 12th pass as their prime minister again.
On Wednesday, at the rally, West Bengal CM and TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee announced that the Opposition will fight together in the 2019 elections in a pre-poll alliance to defeat the Modi government.
This mega rally, attended by top Opposition leaders, is the second broadside against the BJP ahead of Lok Sabha polls, after Mamata Banerjee’s rally in January.
Many of the top Opposition leaders also met at NCP Chief Sharad Pawar's residence after the rally on Wednesday.
- Mamata Banerjee, N Chandrababu Naidu, HD Deve Gowda, Farooq Abdullah and Sharad Pawar attended the rally
- AAP Convener Gopal Rai said an invite was also sent to Congress President Rahul Gandhi
- The rally comes after Mamata Banerjee led the ‘Unite India’ rally in Kolkata’s Brigade Ground last month
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)
Amit Shah Attacks Opposition Alliance
BJP National President Amit Shah on Thursday hit out at the Opposition alliance, saying it ‘lacked’ leaders, policies and philosophy, and billed his party-led NDA as ‘strong.’
“Under BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, NDA’s strong alliance is ready to lead the nation,” he said, reported PTI.
Rahul Gandhi Holds Rally in Valsad, Gujarat
Congress President Rahul Gandhi addressed the Jan Aakrosh Rally in Valsad, Gujarat. Attacking PM Modi in his speech, he said that the Modi government had refused to waive farmers’ loans but had written off Rs 3.5 lakh crore debt of 15 top industrialists.
He also spoke about the Rafale deal, saying that Defence Ministry and Air Force had said that PM Narendra Modi conducted parallel negotiations with Dassault Aviation on the deal.
In his speech, he also told the people that under the Congress regime would receive the benefits of the Minimum Income Guarantee Scheme, through which they would receive sums of money directly in their accounts.
Arvind Kejriwal on Alliance With Congress
AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said that they were anxious to be a part of the Opposition alliance but that the Congress has nearly said no.
“We are very worried about the country, which is why we are anxious to be part of the Opposition alliance. But the Congress has nearly said no”, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said.
Communist Parties Cannot Stay in Alliance: Hannan Mollah
Referring to the pre-poll alliance, CPI (M)’s Hannan Mollah said it would be difficult to distribute seats among so many parties.
“Opposition parties might fight among themselves. I don't think they’ll be able to make Common Minimum Program and fight together. Communist parties won't be able to stay in this alliance,” he said.