26 vs 38: Oppn, NDA set up a clash of meetings on Tuesday
TUESDAY may well set the narrative for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with the Opposition holding its second unity meeting in Bengaluru (starting Monday), and the BJP reviving the moribund National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to announce its own meeting coinciding with the Opposition’s.
For the Opposition, the key points on the agenda are deciding the contours of seat-sharing, and reaching greater coordination and communication. The BJP, which needs to win seats from new areas to compensate for the inevitable decline in the seats it won last time, is hoping to retain its old allies and get new ones, to fill the gap. It is also an effort to shed the impression that the party doesn’t value its allies enough.
38 parties to attend NDA meeting Tuesday, shows its expansion, says BJP
On taking in leaders who have not risen from the party’s ranks, Nadda said the BJP has no issue if others commit to its goals. “After all, we cannot do development alone. Everyone has to be a part of it.”
Asked whether the BJP was still “a party with a difference”, Nadda said: “Ideology and pursuing it is a saswat vishay (permanent issue), but the strategy is always changing and is dynamic. What you find wrong today may be correct tomorrow. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the ideology… If Rajinder Nagar is flooded, would you not go via Patel Nagar?”
