Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda took a jibe at the recent opposition meeting held in Patna, where leaders who were once imprisoned by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the Emergency were welcomed by her grandson, Rahul Gandhi. Nadda raised questions about the political dynamics and shifting alliances as he addressed a public meeting in Odisha's Kalahandi, as reported by Hindustan Times.
The meeting in Patna, spearheaded by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and attended by RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and other opposition party leaders, prompted Nadda to criticize the irony of leaders who had faced incarceration under Indira Gandhi's rule now being embraced by her own family. Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav had served jail time as student leaders while participating in a movement organized by political activist Jai Prakash Narayan in opposition to the Indira Gandhi government.
During his address, Nadda remarked, "Rahul Gandhi's grandmother, Indira Gandhi, had put Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar in jail, but today they are welcoming Rahul Gandhi in Patna. I wonder as to what has happened in politics." He further pointed out the attendance of Uddhav Thackeray, leader of Shiv Sena (UBT), and highlighted the contradiction between his late father Balasaheb Thackeray's strong opposition to the Congress and his son's current alignment.
Nadda underscored that the gathering of opposition leaders reflects their desperation to defeat the BJP. He emphasized the irony of leaders who once fiercely contested the Congress now welcoming them to their doorsteps in an attempt to gain power.
