New Delhi, June 10 (IANS) The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Wednesday remarked that the INDIA bloc is “shrinking” given the “internal conflicts” within the opposition parties. However, Congress said that the Opposition alliance is united despite having differences at the state level.

Talking to IANS, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam said: “On the one side, the INDIA bloc is continuously shrinking and there are reports of internal differences and conflicts among its leaders. On the other hand, the NDA alliance is continuously expanding and strengthening.”

“The reason for this is that leaders of the National Democratic Alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, remain actively connected with the people in their respective states and continuously serve the public, because of which the people give their blessings to them,” he added.

However, Congress MP Manickam Tagore stressed that the “INDIA bloc is united”.

“It was formed to fight against the RSS, BJP, and Amit Shah. The alliance achieved significant success,” he told reporters.

While acknowledging that there are differences among the INDIA bloc allies at the state level, the Congress leader said: “The INDIA bloc, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and other senior Opposition leaders, remains united in its fight against the RSS and BJP.”

He underlined that while the Aam Aadmi Party has announced its exit, and the DMK has also made “certain announcements”, “The Trinamool Congress remains an important part of the alliance.”

Tagore added: “Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee has been a pillar of strength for the INDIA bloc, so is Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav. As many as 25 opposition parties are united.”

In a veiled reference to the DMK, the Congress MP Tagore said: “Those parties who are left should also recognise that state-level differences can be negotiated for national, larger ambition to fight against the RSS, BJP and Home Minister Amit Shah, because RSS and BJP are destroying each democratic process in India.”

Meanwhile, BJP MP Kiran Choudhary attacked the Trinamool Congress and pointed to the infighting withing the party.

“Trinamool Congress had outlived its time. The kind of hooliganism they unleashed, the way syndicates operated, and the extent to which people were suppressed, left them with no real alternative. It was this atmosphere of intimidation that helped them (Trinamool) secure support,” she told IANS.

Choudhary said that the people of West Bengal found an alternative in the BJP since one of its promises was to take action against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

“As a result, people (of West Bengal) voted openly in its (BJP’s) favour. You can now see that the Trinamool Congress is imploding from within. Its MPs and MLAs are turning against each other, and the party is gradually collapsing. In fact, it has virtually collapsed already,” she added.

–IANS

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