Suvendu Adhikari.
Credit: PTI File Photo
"Two PM contenders had India divided; can’t let 26 individuals have the country fragmented"
Drawing a parallel with the two assumed claimants to the prime minister’s post at the time of India’s independence, which was followed by the country’s division, a senior BJP leader in West Bengal said on Monday that there are 26 contenders for the post in the anti-BJP alliance. "We (the people) aren’t foolish to vote for them, leaving the country fragmented", he added.
Suvendu Adhikari, BJP MLA and leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, when asked about the political opponents’ claim that the BJP government will not last at the Centre beyond six months, responded by asking, “which opponent”?
“Four-G, three-G, or two-G… which opponent? You will have to tell the name. Two individuals wanted to be the prime minister, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Jawaharlal Nehru. The country got divided into two,” he said.
“Twenty-six people (party leaders) want to be the prime minister. Are we foolish to split the country into 26 fragments, facilitating these 26 to become the prime minister?,” Adhikari said.
“Which opponent? You will have to tell me the name. 'Four-G' will mean Rahul Gandhi – Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi. 'Three-G' will indicate Farooq Abdullah - Sheikh Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah… 'Three-G' may also mean Stalin… (M) Karunanidhi, (MK) Stalin, Udhayanidhi,” he said, adding that 'Two-G' represents Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, her nephew.
Adhikari, last week, when the I.N.D.I.A alliance was meeting in Mumbai, had said that the people aren’t foolish to wish that the country mirror situations like those of Afghanistan or Ukraine by parting ways with the BJP and instead voting for the emerging alternative.
Adhikari had also said that by giving itself the name “I.N.D.I.A”, an alliance doesn’t become a “nationalist” one. Adhikari alleged that the coming together of partners is based on three factors – “parivarvaad” (familism), corruption, and (politics of) appeasement.