BJP says INDIA bloc is weakening as opposition parties miss meeting

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has claimed that the INDIA opposition alliance is weakening after several parties or leaders did not attend a meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday. Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the alliance had effectively collapsed before the meeting began. He pointed to the absence of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Aam Aadmi Party, while Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav was away because of nominations for Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Chouhan also argued that Rahul Gandhi’s leadership was not accepted within the alliance or even by all Congress members. He said the absences showed that opposition parties were unwilling to recognise Gandhi as their leader. The meeting was held to finalise an action plan for joint protests over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, attended, along with representatives of the Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Communist parties, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). The Congress said the opposition remained united to protect the Constitution from what it called repeated assaults by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It also accused the government of pursuing a “vote chori gameplan” to remain in power.

Chouhan defended the need for accurate voter lists. He questioned why names should remain on the rolls when a person had died, appeared more than once or was not an Indian citizen. He said removing such entries was necessary for a clean democracy.

The supplied material records political claims from both sides but does not establish whether the INDIA bloc is formally breaking apart. It says Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray planned to join the meeting virtually, while some other leaders attended in person.