DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday highlighted the opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and said the coming year will see the emergence of a "new India."
While the maiden meeting of opposition parties, that met in Bihar capital Patna in June saw the participation of 16 political parties, it grew to 26 in the just concluded two-day Bengaluru conclave, he said.
The DMK chief was addressing reporters upon his arrival from Bengaluru where he had attended the two-day event, which saw the participation of top national leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal.
The country was going through "autocracy" and democracy and other aspects like secularism were facing a crisis, he said.
Many opposition parties from across the country have joined hands in the interest of the country, Stalin added.
There were signs of a "ideological alliance" at the national level and an electoral one at the regional level, he said, even as he pointed out at the new opposition coalition being named the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), that would take on the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"A new India will be created in 2024," he said, adding hopes were high across the country over the opposition grouping.
"Our policy is who should not be ruling the country... we are discussing that," he said.
To a question on the Enforcement Directorate action against his cabinet colleague K Ponmudy, he said more such action could be expected but asserted all of them will be faced legally.
Answering to a query, he said those whom the BJP had accused of corruption were now sharing dais with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, even seen by his side in today's NDA parties meeting in New Delhi.
-With PTI Input
