Felt Like Laughing: Praful Patel On Opposition Unity Meet In Patna

Former Union Minister Praful Patel on Wednesday took a dig at the meeting of opposition parties in Patna last month, saying he felt like laughing when he saw the scene where seven of 17 opposition parties present have only one MP in the Lok Sabha and there was a party which has no MP.

A total of 17 parties are going to contest the 2024 general elections together against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"I went to the joint opposition meeting in Patna with Sharad Pawar, and I felt like laughing when I saw the scene there. There were 17 opposition parties there, seven of them have only one MP in the Lok Sabha and there is one party that has zero MPs. They claim they will bring change...", Patel said.

Defending the move to join BJP government, Patel said Ajit Pawar and other lawmakers have decided to join the Shiv Sena coalition government in Maharashtra "for the nation and our party and not for personal gain".

"When we could accept the ideology of Shiv Sena, then what is the objection to going with BJP? Mehbooba Mufti and Farooq Abdullah went with BJP in Jammu and Kashmir and they are now part of the joint opposition," Patel said.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra hit back at Praful Patel for mocking the recent opposition meeting in Patna, calling the rebel Ajit Pawar's faction pathetic traitors.

"You felt like laughing did you? Well, we feel like laughing at you pathetic traitors who betray cause after ED confiscates properties & jalaoed a beedi under you," she tweeted.

"It will be Indian democracy vs BJP in 2024. Let's see who has last laugh then," she added.