The BJP took a jibe at the Opposition meeting in Patna, calling it a mere photo session and their target is not Modi, but the treasury of the country.
Union minister Smriti Irani questioned the alliance between the parties which in the past had been in loggerheads with each other. Irani likened the meeting to a pack of wolves and said, “It is said that wolves hunt in packs. The political pack met in Patna. Pray what will be the future of the country.” Addressing presspersons at the party headquarters after the Opposition leaders meet in Patna, Irani said, “Modi is not the target, but, the treasury of the country is.”
Earlier, addressing a rally in Jammu, Home Minister Amit Shah, termed the meeting as a 'photo session' and the Opposition leaders will not be able to pose a challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024.
By drawing references to past relationships between the key parties in the Opposition grouping, the BJP has questioned the durability of such an alliance. Irani drew attention to past events where the Opposition parties had been involved in fighting with each other.
“It is ironical that Trinamool Congress today witnessed bonhomie between Mamata Bandhopadhay and Left Parties, the same party whose cadre had dragged her by the hair when she tried to speak for the people of Bengal.” She added that it was also ironic that Mamata met Congress as the latter had accused her of targetting their workers.
As DMK was also part of the Opposition meeting, Irani said, in 1990, Congress had accused DMK of having a hand in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.
In a similar vein, she reminded the parties that Lalu Prasad Yadav has forgotten how “Mamta Bandhopadhay presented a white paper describing the incapacities of [Lalu as Railway minister] at the Centre.”
The BJP leader took another jibe saying Mamata has been extremely prophetic to say that if Rahul Gandhi was the leader of the Opposition, then it was certain that Modi will be elected as PM of the nation.