PM Modi hits back at Opposition; cites 'East India company', Mujahideen in jibe

Modi said the 26-party anti-BJP grand alliance was being built by a directionless Opposition in deep despair.

With the Opposition alliance I.N.D.I.A piling on the pressure over the Manipur violence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a counter-offensive, saying the East India Company and banned outfits like Indian Mujahideen and Popular Front of India also had India in their names.

Modi, who broke his silence on the ethnic conflict in the Northeast state after 78 days, said the 26-party anti-BJP grand alliance was being built by a directionless Opposition in deep despair.

“Its conduct suggests that it has reconciled to remain in the Opposition for a long time," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi told reporters quoting Modi’s speech at the BJP parliamentary party meeting in Delhi.

Even the organisations, which wanted to divide and break the country, have used “India” and “Indian” in their names, Modi is reported to have said.

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The joint Opposition led by the freshly minted I.N.D.I.A — an acronym for Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance, coined at the just concluded Bengaluru conclave — has been insisting that a discussion on the ethnic clashes should be based on a suo moto statement by Modi on the floor of the House.

But the government is willing to concede only a short-duration discussion followed by a reply by Home Minister Amit Shah.

In his address to the BJP lawmakers Tuesday morning, Modi compared the current atmosphere in the country to a “new dawn” and expressed confidence that the party would return to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Referring to the recent meeting of the NDA parties in Delhi attended by 39 parties, Modi invoked the legacy of BJP patriarchs like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani in maintaining cordial ties with allies.

As the Opposition prepares to lay the groundwork for a no-confidence motion in the current session, the BJP has also asked its MPs to brace themselves for a political battle both inside and outside Parliament.

Leaders have been instructed to organise programmes in connection with the Independence Day functions across the country.