New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said there were no fissures in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as he sought to put up a united front ahead of the 2019 elections.
“The outcome of the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha and the election for the deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha should indicate which coalition is intact and which is falling apart," Modi said in an interview to ANI when asked if smaller allies were losing faith in the coalition.
The NDA had won by a comfortable margin in the no-trust motion moved by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), its erstwhile ally. The coalition also sailed through in the Rajya Sabha election for the deputy chairperson’s post when JD(U) candidate Harivansh got 125 votes as against 101 polled by BK Hariprasad, the opposition nominee.
The Prime Minister said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had also got support from parties which were not its partners and it “welcomed more allies to the NDA".
Taking a jibe at the Opposition's efforts to cobble together a front against the BJP, Modi said the critical question was if the coalition would fall apart before the 2019 general elections or after it.
"The Mahagathbandhan is about dynasties, not about development. The only question is whether they will break up before the election or after," he said.
There have been rumours about disquiet in the NDA, with several allies upset with the BJP over its big brother attitude. The party's breakup with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir in June this year had further fanned these rumours.
Clearing the air on the BJP's pullout, Modi said, "After the sad demise of Mufti Sahab, there were hurdles in fulfilling (people’s) expectations. That is why without casting any aspersions we opted out of power."
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