On Wednesday, August 30, after facing severe backlash from its so-called alliance partners, Congress deleted the poster it released showing Rahul Gandhi leading the I.N.D.I.A. alliance and came up with another one that included Chief Ministers from Opposition-ruled states. In the new poster, Congress deleted the picture of their blue-eyed boy Rahul Gandhi and instead shared pictures of Chief Ministers from Opposition-ruled states including that of AAP supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
The power of INDIA pic.twitter.com/bJvBflsz5p
— Congress (@INCIndia) August 30, 2023
Yesterday, the Congress party stirred up a hornet’s nest after its social media team released a poster featuring prominent leaders of the opposition bloc to take on the BJP-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The poster, released ahead of the meeting of the I.N.D.I.A. alliance of the opposition parties in Mumbai today, had Rahul Gandhi on the centre stage leading the political squad, skipping AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal from the poster.
Notably, the alliance poster released by the Congress party features images of several leaders – Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, Hemant Soren, Mallikarjun Kharge, Uddhav Thackeray and Sitaram Yechury among others. Conspicuously, Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal are missing from the alliance poster.
The poster did not go down well with the alliance members especially the Uddhav Thackeray section of Shiv Sena which asked Congress to delete the post with the poster. The party further threatened to tear down the poster if it is seen in Mumbai.
BJP leader Shezad Poonawala also took a dig at the Congress and set off fresh speculations about the cohesiveness of the opposition alliance coming together to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Insinuating that Congress and AAP have taken ‘political divorce’, he asserted that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was accurate in predicting that the alliance will fall once the Delhi Services Bill becomes an act. Additionally, he also touched upon the unceasing ambitions of each alliance partner within the I.N.D.I.A. for Prime Ministership.
Now dear friends
— Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) August 30, 2023
Observe closely
Rahul is the leader of the pack that contains Nitish ji, Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh, Omar, Hemant, Mamata Di , Sitaram, etc
NO KEJRIWAL THERE 😂☺️😂
AAP & Congress headed for teen talaq ?? HM Amit Shah was bang on !! pic.twitter.com/pE4Z3foyK3
Later the Congress party deleted the poster from its social media handles and released a new one that included photos of Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann.
I.N.D.I.A. bloc gather in Mumbai for third meeting
The opposition bloc INDIA will be holding its third meeting in Mumbai on Thursday and Friday to discuss its plans for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The alliance is likely to announce a coordination committee, a logo, and panels to draft a common minimum programme of the alliance. The agenda also includes seat-sharing discussions and setting up a secretariat, to enhance the coordination between all the member parties. It is also speculated that more regional outfits will be joining the alliance during the two-day meeting.
‘Ghamandia meeting’: BJP takes a dig at I.N.D.I.A. alliance of the opposition parties
Sambit Patra, the national spokesperson for the BJP, lambasted the opposition I.N.D.I.A. group, claiming they were complicit in scams totalling crores of rupees. Additionally, he referred to the I.N.D.I.A. meeting in Mumbai is a game of musical chairs between the rival parties.
Addressing a press conference at the party’s national headquarters in Delhi, Sambit Patra said, “You all know that GM (Ghamindia meeting) is taking place in Mumbai. These parties have done scams and corruption worth Rs 20 lakh crores”.
प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी के नेतृत्व में चल रही स्थिर और विकास युक्त सरकार को अस्थिर करने के लिए ‘घमंडिया गठबंधन’ की मुंबई में बैठक चल रही है। pic.twitter.com/RWPeiGopEh
— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) August 31, 2023
He further said, “This ‘musical chair’ between the opposition parties doesn’t need any explanation. Such opposition meetings are not new to us, be it 2014 or 2019.”
The BJP leader also called I.N.D.I.A. a ‘selfish alliance’ and said it is an “alliance of compulsion, not strength”.
“The meeting of ‘Ghamandia Gathbandhan’ is going to take place in Mumbai today. These parties have done scams and corruption worth Rs 20,000 lakh crores. It’s a selfish alliance… Their agenda is maximum profit from corruption,” the BJP spokesperson said.
