BJP remembered NDA only after 26 opposition parties came together: Shiv Sena (UBT)

Sanjay Raut said that the next meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I-N-D-I-A) will be in Mumbai

Taking a dig at the BJP, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said the ruling party remembered the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) only after 26 opposition parties came together to form the grouping 'I-N-D-I-A', the PTI reported.

Talking to reporters, Sanjay Raut said that the next meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I-N-D-I-A), the coalition formed to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, will be in Mumbai, according to the PTI.

Sanjay Raut asserted that I-N-D-I-A will defeat the 'dictatorship' in the country.

You have now remembered NDA only after we 26 (opposition) parties came together in Patna and Bengaluru as 'I-N-D-I-A' for the country. It is only after meetings that your lotus (BJP's party symbol) started blooming, Sanjay Raut said, as per the PTI.

Raut added that I-N-D-I-A will decide who the next prime minister will be.

Leaders of 38 parties, part of the NDA, met in Delhi on Tuesday.

In a meeting of 26 opposition parties, which included the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), in Bengaluru on Tuesday, a proposal was adopted unanimously to name their coalition as I-N-D-I-A.

The original suggestion was to call it Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance, but the word democratic was replaced with developmental after some leaders said it sounded too similar to the ruling NDA.

Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said that the next meeting of the like-minded parties take forward the agenda of opposition unity against the BJP in the next Lok Sabha polls and an 11-member coordination committee will be formed.

The next opposition meeting will be held in Mumbai; the date will be announced soon. An 11-member coordination committee will be set up. Names of committee members will be announced in Mumbai, Mallikarjun Kharge said, according to the PTI.

Earlier, we were UPA and now all the 26 parties have given a name to the opposition and that is Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). Everybody has agreed upon this, and the resolution for the name was passed unanimously, the Congress President said.

(with PTI inputs)

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