Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday claimed the INDIA bloc is crumbling after several leaders skipped a key meeting. He questioned the alliance's support for Rahul Gandhi, calling their protests against the Election Commission an "advance excuse for defeat." Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav and others remained absent from the coordination session.
Akhilesh Yadav skips meeting while Uddhav Thackeray joins virtually, as Opposition leaders coordinate protests over electoral roll revision and Gyanesh Kumar
Agriculture and rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday seized on the absence of some leaders from the INDIA meeting to claim that the Opposition alliance was "crumbling" and said the constituents of the bloc were unwilling to accept Rahul Gandhi as their leader.
The BJP fielded Chouhan to counter the Opposition narrative on a day INDIA bloc leaders met and stepped up their attack on chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the special intensive revision of electoral rolls. The Opposition parties announced protests and rallies demanding Gyanesh's resignation.
"There was a meeting of the INDI alliance today. But the alliance fell apart even before the meeting. Where was (Samajwadi Party chief) Akhilesh Yadav? If the issue is so crucial, why isn't Akhilesh Yadav there? Where is (M.K.) Stalin? The DMK has even gone so far as to say that wherever the Congress is, we won't sit there at all. Where is Arvind Kejriwal? Uddhav Thackeray didn't join physically, Hemant Soren is nowhere to be found," Chouhan said at a media briefing at the BJP headquarters.
Akhilesh skipped the meeting and sent a party representative as he was said to be busy with the SP's Rajya Sabha nominations in Lucknow. The DMK and the AAP are no longer members of the INDIA bloc. However, both have decided to sign the Opposition's petition in Parliament seeking Gyanesh's removal. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Thackeray and JMM president Soren participated in Wednesday's meeting through videoconferencing.
Chouhan also sought to portray the Opposition's decision to launch protests against the Election Commission as an "advance excuse" for its electoral defeat. "What was the outcome of the INDI alliance meeting? Zero vision, 100 per cent frustration, and an advance excuse for defeat. Even before the forthcoming elections, they have already set the stage for their loss. These people are searching for excuses for defeat," he said.
Chouhan then turned his attack on Opposition leader Rahul, claiming that neither the INDIA bloc nor the Congress was willing to accept him as its leader.
"The INDI alliance doesn't accept Rahul Gandhi as the leader at all. Leave the INDIA bloc aside; even Congress leaders and members of the party are not willing to accept Rahul Gandhi as their leader. Rahul himself, during the Congress Working Committee meeting, kept pleading: 'Accept me as your leader, trust me'," Chouhan said. "How can the country accept someone as leader whom the Congress party itself doesn't (accept)?" he asked.