"If Opposition Parties Don't Unite For 2024...": AAP Leader's Big Claim

If opposition parties do not come together to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, it is possible that "there may not be an election in the country next time", the AAP alleged on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference, AAP's national spokesperson and Delhi cabinet minister Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed that if Narendra Modi is re-elected as Prime Minister in 2024, there is a possibility that he may change the Constitution and declare himself as the country's "king" for as long as he is alive.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva dismissed Mr Bharadwaj's claims as a "stupid charge".

Asked about the AAP's agenda for the June 23 Opposition conclave in Patna, Mr Bharadwaj said, "The big issue now is that if opposition parties do not fight (the 2024 elections) by coming together, then it is possible that there may not be an election in the country next time." The BJP is "trampling the Opposition by hook or by crook", he said.

"The way CBI, ED and IT raids are being conducted against leaders of opposition parties and they are being put behind bars, there is a possibility that if Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minister (again) in 2024, he will change the Constitution and declare that he will be the king of this country as long as he is alive. And the freedom of this country, for which countless people laid down their lives, would be lost," Mr Bharadwaj claimed.

The June 23 meeting of opposition parties, organised by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, will see them chalk out a strategy for the Lok Sabha polls.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva dubbed Bharadwaj's claims as "stupid" and "childish".

"Instead of levelling childish allegations, Bharadwaj should tell why his party is so desperate to hug even those parties and political leaders whom (AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind) Kejriwal used to abuse and accuse of being corrupt," he said.

Mr Bharadwaj also targeted the Congress for allegedly copying ideas from the AAP's manifestos and termed it a "copycat".

"The oldest party of the country, the Indian National Congress, not only has a crisis of leaders but a crisis of ideas too. After mocking Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP for their welfare schemes related to water and electricity, and free bus rides for women, it is now copying our ideas," he said.

Asked about the tussle between the AAP dispensation in Delhi and the Centre over services matters, Mr Bharadwaj said the central government wants to stall the work of the elected government in the national capital.

The work to halt the welfare schemes through officers has started "on a war footing". Surgeries in private hospitals through Delhi hospitals are being halted and attempts are being made to "uproot people" living in urban slums, he charged.

"This is not happening randomly, but as part of a conspiracy on the directions of the centre," he claimed.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)