"Not destroyed... INDIA is there, will fight": Congress' Shivakumar responds PM's 'alliance alignment disturbed' remark

New Delhi [India], February 5 (ANI): Congress leader and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar on Monday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks wherein he mocked the INDIA bloc, saying that the Opposition bloc is not 'destroyed' and will fight and will bring a 'big change'.
"Alliance is not destroyed. INDIA is there, INDIA will fight. There is still a lot of time, there will be a big change..." Shivakuamar said while speaking to ANI.
In his Lok Sabha address on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the INDIA bloc amid seat-sharing rifts and mocked the alliance's "alignment" amid layers of troubles within the Opposition unit.
"The Congress cannot think beyond a single family. A few days ago, they put together a 'Bhanumati ka Kunba (Bhanumati's clan, meaning a group of disparate people)' but then they started 'Ekla chalo re (Walk alone)'," he said, quoting a famous poem by Rabindranath Tagore, in a jab at the INDIA Bloc and the current rift within it over seat sharing.
Further, the PM, while taking a jibe at the Opposition bloc, said, "The Congress has recently learnt the work of an auto mechanic, so they should by now know what alignment is. But they have managed to throw the Opposition alliance out of alignment... They do not trust each other. How can they have faith in the country?"
However, Shivakuamar further took a swipe at PM Modi over the latter's remark on Rahul Gandhi and said that the PM is 'scared' of the Wayanad MP, who is currently embarking on his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
"Rahul Gandhi is our leader. Why is the PM scared of him?...Because he is walking across the country - from north to south and from east to west? I believe in one thing - more strong, more enemies; less strong, less enemies; not string, no enemies," Karnataka Deputy CM said.
The debate on the Motion of Thanks, on President's address turned out to be another occasion for massive Congress bashing.
The party, the PM alleged, was responsible for not fulfilling the role of a strong opposition, which vital for a democracy. The current disarray in the Opposition bloc and "launching the same product (Rahul Gandhi) over and over" were counted among the other shortcomings of the party.
"In Congress, there are many talented people but the party did not let them stand. I always wished that the country needed a good Opposition. We can see the situation with Adhir Babu. The situation is that (Mallikarjun) Kharge has shifted from this house to that house (Rajya Sabha), and Ghulam Nabi Azad has shifted out of the party. They all became the victims of 'parivarwad'. Ek hi product baar-baar launch karne ke chakkar mein, Congress ki dukaan mein tala lagne ki naubat aa gayi hai (Attempts are being made to launch a product again and again. Congress shop is on the verge of closure in an attempt to launch the same product again and again'). Congress is trapped within a family," PM Modi said. (ANI)