Mahagathbandhan 'self-destructive coalition of rivals', Rahul Gandhi 'tried, tested and failed': Arun Jaitley

Launching an all-out offensive against the attempted grand alliance of anti-BJP parties, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said that the 'Mahagathbandhan' is a self-destructive ‘coalition of rivals' and choice before voters in the general elections would be either "Modi or chaos".  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government will be seeking second term as 900 million people are expected to vote in the Lok Sabha elections beginning April 11. Counting of votes will be taken up on May 23.

Several non-BJP parties like the Congress, the SP, the BSP, and the TMC have joined hands to form a grand coalition 'Mahagathbandhan' to take on Narendra Modi-led NDA in the forthcoming elections beginning April 11.

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"What was promised to be ‘Mahagathbandhan' is turning out to be a ‘gathbandhan' of several conflicting gathbandhans. It is a self-destructive ‘coalition of rivals'," Jaitley said while highlighting the conflicts among the parties in the coalition against BJP-led NDA.

In his blog, he wrote that the leadership issue in the opposition camp is an absolute puzzle. Congress President Rahul Gandhi is an inadequate leader, Jaitley said.

"He is tried, tested and failed. His lack of understanding of issues is frightening. He aspires to be the leader of this chaotic pack".

The senior BJP leader further said the Opposition alliance is unclear and is absolutely fragile.

"None of the political parties is capable of any significant number of seats. The alliance will not have a stable nucleus. It has a set of highly ambitious, self-centred and maverick leaders.

"Barring the Congress and the Left, most of them have done political business with the BJP in the past. Their ideologies and commitment to their constituents are widely different," he added.

On the other, Jaitley said that within the NDA there are no leadership issues.

"There is absolute clarity. Shri Narendra Modi leads the NDA and will be the Prime Minister in the event of the NDA victory. His leadership is nationally accepted, his ratings are very high. His track record speaks for itself," said Jaitley.

The Finance Minister further said the contest in the forthcoming Lok Sabha election is between a trusted leader Modi and secure, and opposition parties’ coalition with no projected leader.

"There are multiple leaders (in the opposition), each trying to outwit the other. They can only promise a temporary Government if we go by the past precedents. One can be certain of chaos.

"The choice is clear – it is either Modi or chaos," he added.

The polling will be held on April 11, April 18, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19 for 543 Lok Sabha seats across the country.

In 2014, Modi-led BJP had won 282 seats out of 543 constituencies in Lok Sabha, handing out a crushing defeat to the 10-year-rule of the United Progressive Alliance led by the Congress.