BJP remembered NDA only after 26 Opposition parties came together: Shiv Sena (UBT)

Taking a dig at the BJP, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said the ruling party remembered the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) only after 26 Opposition parties came together to form the grouping I.N.D.I.A.

Talking to reporters, he said the next meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A), the coalition formed to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, will be in Mumbai.

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He asserted that I.N.D.I.A will defeat “dictatorship” in the country.

“You have now remembered NDA only after we 26 (Opposition) parties came together in Patna and Bengaluru as I.N.D.I.A for the country. It is only after meetings that your lotus (BJP's party symbol) started blooming,” Raut said.

He added that I.N.D.I.A will decide who the next prime minister will be.

Leaders of 38 parties, part of the NDA, met in Delhi on Tuesday.

In a meeting of 26 Opposition parties, which included the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), in Bengaluru on Tuesday, a proposal was adopted unanimously to name their coalition as I.N.D.I.A.

The original suggestion was to call it “Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance”, but the word “democratic” was replaced with “developmental” after some leaders said it sounded too similar to the ruling NDA.