Countering the Opposition parties, which at their seond joint meeting in Bengaluru on Tuesday named their fledgeling alliance as I.N.D.I.A (India National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the NDA stands for “New India, Development, Aspiration”.

Addressing a meeting of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the national capital on Tuesday evening, PM Modi said,” NDA means N=New India, D=Development, A=Aspiration.” In a veiled at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remark at an event in London earlier this year, questioning why the “defenders to democracies” were unmoved over the prevailing state of affairs in India, PM Modi said even when the NDA was in the Opposition, it never insulted the people’s mandate or never took help of foreign powers to destablize the ruling governments.

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“Even when we were in the Opposition, we always preached and practised positive politics. We unearthed scams of previous governments but never questioned or insulted the mandate of the people. We never took the help of foreign powers against the ruling governments. We never created hurdles to development schemes meant for the welfare of the country and its people,” PM Modi said.

He stated further that nation, national security and progress were the priorities for the NDA.

“For the NDA, it is nation first, security of the nation first, progress first and the empowerment of the people first,” PM Modi said.

The representatives from a total of 38 political parties were in attendance as the meeting the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP got underway in the national capital on Tuesday evening.

The NDA leaders, who arrived for the meeting, also posed for a group photograph before going into a huddle.

Ahead of the meeting of the NDA, Prime Minister Modi shared a tweet, expressing his delight at the NDA partners from across the country arriving in the national capital for the hudde.

PM Modi took to Twitter to post,” It is a matter of immense joy that our valued NDA partners from across India will be attending the meeting in Delhi today. Ours is a time-tested alliance which seeks to further national progress and fulfil regional aspirations.”

The NDA leaders, who arrived for the meeting, also posed for a group photograph before going into a huddle.

The meeting is part of the BJP’s ongoing efforts to shore up the NDA and devise a joint strategy against the fledgeling grand Opposition alliance, ‘INDIA’, with an eye on next year’s Lok Sabha elections.