NDA Meet in Delhi Live Updates: As many as 38 political parties began a meeting on Tuesday, 18 July, in New Delhi under the umbrella of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
At the NDA meet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "NDA recently completed 25 years. I am grateful to the old people who have connected with us, and welcome the new ones."
He previously hit out at the Opposition meeting to call the Opposition parties an alliance of "corruption and dynasty politics."
This comes on the same day as the 26-party Opposition meet in Bengaluru, which will saw the presence of political heavyweights like Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar, Arvind Kejriwal, and many others.
The NDA meet was announced by BJP President JP Nadda on Monday
The BJP's former alliance partner Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the YSRCP have not been invited for the meeting
Nadda said on Monday that the reason behind the NDA's expansion was the 'positive impact' of the Modi government's policies
Several parties, including the Congress, said that the NDA meeting signified the BJP is scared of the Opposition alliance.
The Rashtriya Lok Janta Dal & Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) have said that they have joined the NDA alliance.
Several leaders including Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar, Edappadi K Palaniswami and Praful Patel landed in Delhi to attend the meeting.
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PM Modi Addresses NDA Meeting
Addressing the meeting, PM Modi said, "NDA recently completed 25 years. I am grateful to the old people who have connected with us. And welcome the new ones."
Here are the top points from Modi's address.
"India has long tradition of coalitions, but those formed with negativity have never succeeded."
"Even when we were in the opposition, we always did positive politics. In opposition, we brought out scams of the then govts but, never insulted the mandate of the people. We never took the help of foreign powers against the ruling governments. We never created hurdles in development schemes meant for the country ."
"Alliances have been a part of our political history and negative alliances have not worked in India. The NDA was not formed against any party, or to remove any party."
"Leaders like Parkash Singh Badal, Balasaheb Thackeray, Ajit Singh, Sharad Yadav contributed in shaping India."
"Pre-2014 coalition govts somehow survived but country got policy paralysis and a high command above prime minister."
"Another coincidence is associated with this journey of 25 years of NDA. This is the time when our country is taking big steps to achieve a big goal in the coming 25 years. This goal is of a developed India, of a self-reliant India."
"The NDA was formed to bring stability in country. The world's faith on India has increased because of a stable and strong government."
"For NDA, it is nation first, security of the nation first, progress first and empowerment of people first."
Modi further said in the last 9 years, the NDA government has stopped all ways of corruption and stopped leakage in government schemes. He added that the academicians and researchers has should study the scope of work conducted by NDA government.
"In the last 9 years, we have transferred ₹30 lakh crore through Direct Benefit Transfer in the bank accounts of poor and saved around ₹3 lakh crore which earlier used to go in corruption."
"Hamare liye gathbandhan majboori nahi majbooti ka madhyam hai. NDA is not the symbol of coalition and compulsion but the symbol of coalition and contribution. In NDA, no party is small or big. We all are walking together towards the same goal."
"NDA is walking path of social justice shown by Mahatma Gandhi, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Ram Manohar Lohia."
According to Modi, the invitations extended to NDA leaders by prominent world leaders such as those from the US, Japan, and the UK are quite remarkable. This is particularly noteworthy considering the upcoming general elections in India.
"We have maintained political stability in the country. It is NDA that gave Pranab Mukherjee the Bharat Ratna, who was in the Congress for his whole life. We gave him this honour without any hesitation."
PM Modi expressed his gratitude towards leaders who may have attempted to reach out to him over the past nine years but were unable to do so, or who may not have received invitations to certain events or opportunities to meet him.
'INDIA' vs BJP: 5 Big Takeaways From the Opposition and NDA Meetings
Irrespective of who wins in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, today will be remembered as a historic day that laid down the battle lines.
On the one hand, 26 Opposition parties came together in Bengaluru and announced the formation of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, or INDIA.
On the other hand, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is having a massively expanded meeting, with as many as 38 parties in attendance.
The Quint's political editor Aditya Menon brings you the the five key takeaways from the two meetings and what they mean in the build-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Click here for the full story!
'Main Allies of NDA are ED, CBI, IT': Brinda Karat
CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, on the meeting of NDA leaders in Delhi, said, "Main allies of NDA are ED, CBI, IT; they should have been presented in the NDA meeting."
‘Will Be India vs PM’: Kapil Sibal
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal also hit out at the NDA's meeting currently underway in New Delhi and said, " The opposition has taken this name (INDIA) because, in the coming months, it will be India vs PM Modi because all the people here (opposition) are fighting for the inclusive India which is written in the Constitution and PM Modi is fighting for exclusive India."
Referring to Modi's remark regarding families in politics, Sibal rebutted and said, "Which dynastic politics he (PM Modi) is talking about. Does Arvind Kejriwal belongs to a dynasty or Ashok Gehlot belongs to a dynasty?These statements are not based on any thing substantial."