INDIA bloc in disarray, lacks ground presence: BJP

BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said there has been a total breakdown in the INDIA bloc, with the disagreements involving the Congress and the DMK, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Left parties. | Photo credit: The Hindu

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday took a dig at India’s National Development Inclusive Alliance, saying the coalition is in disarray as its parties grapple with electoral losses and infighting. In contrast, the BJP remains focused on gaining public trust through social initiatives and measures to make India a developed country by 2047, she said.

Speaking at a press conference at the INDIA block meeting, BJP MP and spokesperson Sambit Patra said, “Earlier such meetings were held in stadiums. Now they are held in a room at the Constitution Club.”

Countering allegations of “vote-stealing” through special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Mr Patra said: “SIR happened in Tamil Nadu and Kerala too. In Tamil Nadu, you (Congress) formed an alliance with another party to be part of the government. The DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) itself says they were not all stolis. The Congress-led alliance formed the government in Kerala too, he said.

“When you lose in West Bengal, you start crying for SIR,” Mr. Patra said, accusing the alliance of hypocrisy. “In the true sense of the word, the existence of the INDIA alliance was stolen. Today none of these political parties have any real presence on the ground. Their integrity was stolen and the public did not vote for them because of that,” the BJP leader said.

Mr. Patra said that after the big electoral defeat, the Trinamool Congress was torn by infighting. Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav would wonder if “he will meet the same fate as (Trinamool supremo) Mamata Banerjee,” he said.

The BJP leader cited previous remarks by opposition leaders such as Ms Banerjee, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, DMK’s Udhayanidhi Stalin, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Pinarayi Vijayan and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar either criticizing the opposition Congress in Rayandu Sabha leader Rahay Sabha

“Their meeting will be held at one place, but after they leave the room, they will enter another electoral battleground and criticize each other… DMK has even written a letter that their seating arrangements (in the Lok Sabha) should be changed immediately. They cannot even sit next to Congress members,” Mr Patra said. He also took aim at the Left, stating that it now “remains only within the INDIA alliance”.

Mr. Patra claimed that the INDIA bloc meeting had no specific agenda, challenging its demand for an all-party meeting. “None of these political parties attended the meeting called last time for women empowerment and Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Reservation Act). They do not attend meetings called during parliamentary sessions,” he said.

In an attempt to draw a contrast, Mr. Patra said the BJP also held a meeting on Monday to discuss the social work done by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in the last 12 years, measures taken to gain public trust and initiatives to make India a developed country by 2047.

Published – 08 Jun 2026 12:23 IST