PM Modi framed a battle of narratives where Opposition’s INDIA stands for dynasty, corruption, political compulsion and negativity while NDA stands for an aspirational India that looks 25 years ahead
On a humid July Tuesday, nine months ahead of the much-anticipated Lok Sabha elections, battle lines are clearly drawn and swords are out by both the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and the Opposition, which coined a fancy acronym INDIA for its Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.
While the latter, a grouping of 26 parties, claimed it represents India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested the NDA’s first letter represents ‘New India’. He added that ‘D’ stands for the Development of the nation while ‘A’ is for people’s aspirations.
By doing this, PM Modi not only presented a positive outlook for the BJP-led grouping but addressed the shortcomings of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ‘Shining India’ where only the aspirational aspect was touched upon.
After the Opposition pulled a surprise by naming their alliance INDIA, the BJP-led NDA put forth its trump card — Narendra Damodardas Modi — to give a stern rebuttal.
“Alliances formed with negativity are not meant to survive,” the prime minister said as he fired his first salvo on Tuesday evening after weathering a day of political attacks from the likes of Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal in Bengaluru, where the Opposition went into a huddle for two days.
Minutes into his speech at Kalinga Hall in Delhi’s Ashoka Hotel, PM Modi alleged that the Congress had a habit of bringing down governments as he contrasted it with the NDA, saying the alliance was not formed to oust regimes. Throughout the day, the focal point of discussion at Bengaluru was to topple the Modi government.
Suggesting the opposition alliance was the result of “Satta ki majboori” (compulsion of power) and “bhrashtachar ki niyat se kiya gaya” (with an intent to indulge in corruption), he stressed: “NDA’s situation is exactly the opposite and different. For us, an alliance is not ‘majboori’ (compulsion) but ‘majbooti’ (strength).” He reminded how BJP, despite being in a position to form the government on its own, preferred coming to power as NDA.
While he mentioned various government schemes, PM Modi did not lose the opportunity to hit out at the Opposition. Referring to Direct Benefit Transfer, he said: “Due to DBT, we saved Rs 3 lakh crore from going into wrong hands.” He added: “The repeated mistake the Opposition is doing is they are undermining the intellect of the common man.”
Very soon, the prime minister was in his known political avatar, tearing into the Opposition. Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s recent tours abroad, without naming him, PM Modi said amid applause from NDA partners: “We never sought foreign help to oppose the ruling government.” To put things into perspective, Rahul Gandhi had questioned “why Europe and the US, the defenders of democracies, were oblivious of how a huge chunk of democracy in India had come undone” at an event in London.
