BJP mocks all-party meet, asks opposition to reveal PM candidate's name

BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya Sunday mocked the scheduled meeting of opposition parties in New Delhi, and said they should first declare a prime ministerial candidate before thinking of ousting the Narendra Modi government.

In a major step towards forming an anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) front, top opposition leaders will huddle in the national capital on Monday, to discuss forging a grand alliance to take on the saffron party in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

"It's really good to see opposition parties trying to forge an alliance to fight against us. But, first let them declare their prime ministerial candidate, then they should dream of fighting against us and ousting us," he said. "We have Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is their PM candidate?" he added.

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Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and NCP chief Sharad Pawar arrived in New Delhi earlier in the day to take part in the meeting.

Taking a dig at the TMC chief, senior BJP leader Mukul Roy said she should clarify whether the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress, also part of the opposition meeting, were friends or opponents of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Bengal.

"When the TMC was born in 1998, Mamata Banerjee and her party used to say both the Congress and the CPI(M) are political opponents," Roy said.

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"The TMC throughout its 20-year history has termed the CPI(M) as its number one political opponent. So, now it should clarify whether the two have become friends," he said.