“This won’t last long…”: Former Chhattisgarh CM on NDA coalition government

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], June 8 (ANI): Pointing out the differences between the ideologies of NDA allies, Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said that the coalition government between BJP, JD(U) and TDP would not last long.

Citing ideological rifts between the allies over different schemes such as Agniveer, caste census and UCC, Baghel said, “Both Andhra Pradesh and Bihar are demanding special state status and on this basis, Chandrababu Naidu had earlier separated from NDA. Now look at the statements of K.C. Tyagi, he says that Agniveer should be abolished and there should be a caste census. It contains all the things that are against the Modi government.”

“They (BJP) will talk about UCC, both of them, Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu will oppose it. Both of them are fantastic negotiators. Right now there is just news about which leader is going to demand which ministry. This will not last long. This is not Atal ji, this is Modi ji, he does not listen to anyone,” he added.

Senior JDU Leader KC Tyagi on Thursday said that his party had offered unconditional support to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA but wanted the shortcomings in the ‘Agnipath’ scheme to be discussed in detail.

“A section of voters have been upset over the Agniveer scheme. Our party wants those shortcomings which have been questioned by the public to be discussed in detail and removed,” he said

He also spoke on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which has been one of the poll promises of the BJP. He signalled that the JDU is not against the UCC but it should be discussed with the stakeholders.

“We are not against the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), but we reckon that it should be discussed with all the stakeholders including the states, Chief Ministers and political parties”, he said.

As per the results announced by the Election Commission of India on Tuesday, the BJP won 240 seats and along with its allies, it stands at 293 seats. Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and Nitish Kumar’s JDU, having won 16 and 12 seats respectively in their respective states, have extended support to the NDA. (ANI)

The INDIA bloc has 234 MPs in the new parliament with the Congress having won 99 seats.