"Really good to see opposition parties trying to forge an alliance", BJP leader mocks mega opposition meet

BJP National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya has mocked the scheduled meeting of opposition parties in New Delhi on Monday, and said they should first declare a prime ministerial candidate before thinking of removing the Narendra Modi government. In a major step towards forming an anti-BJP front, top opposition leaders will meet in the national capital to discuss forging a grand alliance to take on the BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

"It's really good to see opposition parties trying to forge an alliance to fight against us. But first, let them declare their prime ministerial candidate, then they should dream of fighting against us and ousting us," he said on Sunday.

"We have Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Who is their PM candidate?" Mr Vijayvargiya added.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has reached New Delhi to take part in the meeting.

Read: Opposition To Hold Multiple Meetings To Discuss Grand Alliance Ahead Of Winter Session Of Parliament. LIVE UPDATES Here 

Taking a dig at Ms Banerjee, senior BJP leader Mukul Roy said she should clarify whether the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress, also part of the opposition meeting, were friends or opponents of the Trinamool Congress in Bengal.

"When the TMC was born in 1998, Mamata Banerjee and her party used to say both the Congress and the CPI(M) are political opponents. The TMC throughout its 20-year history has termed the CPI(M) as its number one political opponent. So now, it should clarify whether the two have become friends," Mr Roy said.

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Ahead of the assembly election results for five states, the opposition is holding a meeting on Monday to discuss a grand alliance for next year's national polls. The meeting, to be held in Delhi, has been called by Chandrababu Naidu, who has taken on the challenging task of bringing the opposition parties under a single umbrella to take on the BJP in 2019. The meeting will commence at 3:30 PM where the pitch for a Mahagatbandhan (Grand Alliance) will take shape.