New Delhi, Aug 28: Dismissing as “conjecture” the talk about the possibility of his party switching to the NDA, RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary on Monday said parties would not be comfortable joining hands with the BJP which, he alleged, is “very effective” at steam-rolling dissenting voices.
Singh, who is part of the opposition group INDIA, said he does not see any reason to change his approach heading towards the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
In an interview with PTI ahead of the crucial meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in Mumbai, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader also said the Congress has a “big role” going forward as it is a “well-understood brand” with many people across the country voting for the party for a long time.
After the Mumbai meeting, there will be no more “conjecture” on Uttar Pradesh or the shape of the alliance and people will be more confident about INDIA, he said.
Chaudhary hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP for calling the 26-party opposition alliance ‘Ghamandia’, saying if any leader who has a majority and has had two terms attacks his opposition like this, “it betrays a lack of confidence, jittery nerves and also a basic undemocratic nature”.
“In a democracy, you will always have people who come and oppose you, ask questions, fight elections, they are not your sworn enemies that you give them names like that. It is demeaning not for us, we have gotten used to the barbs. It is demeaning to voters who voted for us in the past and may vote for us in the future,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Asked about the talk that the BJP was reaching out to him and his party may consider a switch to the NDA, Chaudhary termed it as “conjecture”. “I think the BJP likes to portray, its current leadership likes to portray, that they are very large-hearted and they want to embrace diverse leadership and bring in different parties into the NDA fold. When you have seen their work in nine years, that is not the case,” he said.
When the BJP has to choose a chief minister in a state they have won, they choose the most obscure name and people with actual leadership potential are typically side-lined, the RLD chief alleged.
“So that shows that the BJP as a party has changed a lot over the last few years. They can no longer say that we are a party that responds to workers, responds to criticism, or embraces people with different points of view. That is not the BJP of today.
“The BJP today is known as an effective election machine…they have captured institutions across the board and they are solely focussed on elections,” he said.
The BJP is very effective at “road rolling” over dissenting voices, whether it is from the media, civil society or from political opponents, he alleged. “Will many parties actually be comfortable in joining hands with BJP in such an atmosphere? I doubt it. In fact, most of their old allies have left them,” Chaudhary said.
Asked if it was settled that the RLD would remain with the opposition alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Chaudhary said, “I am in a position that I have to look at my party, what is good for my party, what is the roadmap ahead… I have to think with a larger perspective and I am doing that.” “I don’t see any reason for me to change my approach,” he stressed. (PTI)
