BJP-AIADMK split: Sibal takes ‘camel in tent’ dig; Udhayanidhi’s ‘thief-robber’ barb
According to Sibal, the allies still with BJP are “opportunistic alliances with no ideological glue”; Udhayanidhi says the two parties may come together again
AIADMK’s exit from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has brought forth caustic remarks from Opposition leaders. While Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Tuesday (September 26) wrote on X that the BJP was like the “camel in the tent”, DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin said “one (party) is a robber and the another is a thief”.
According to Sibal, yet another ally has left the BJP and those still with them are “opportunistic alliances with no ideological glue”.
In a post on X (Twitter), Sibal wrote, “AIADMK exits NDA. Yet another ally leaves them! Those still with them are opportunistic alliances with no ideological glue: [Ajit] Pawar & Shinde in Maharashtra & alliances in the North East. The BJP is like the camel in the tent!”
The fable of the camel in the tent is comparable to the metaphor “give someone an inch and they’ll take a mile”, meaning that if you make a small concession, someone will take advantage of you.
Sibal, a Union minister during UPA I and II, quit the Congress in May last year and was elected to Rajya Sabha as an Independent member with the Samajwadi Party’s support. He has floated a non-electoral platform Insaaf, aimed at fighting injustice.
What Udhayanidhi said
In Tamil Nadu, minister Udhayanidhi reportedly took a dig at the AIADMK and the BJP, saying the two may come together again to contest elections, as “one is a robber and the other is a thief”.
“Whether you (AIADMK) have an alliance with the BJP or not, it is the DMK that will win. You cannot deceive people. Your own AIADMK cadres will not trust this. Why? Because ED cases are pending against your former chief minister and ministers,” media reports quoted Udhayanidhi as saying at a DMK youth wing public meeting in Krishnagiri district.
“This is not happening for the first time. They (AIADMK and BJP) may pretend to fight but during elections, they will come together again because one is a robber and the other is a thief,” he said.
Ending its four-year-old ties with the BJP, the AIADMK on Monday (September 25) announced it was walking out of the NDA and said it would lead a separate front for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The decision to break away from the NDA was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami at the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai. Apparently, AIADMK is miffed with BJP’s Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai’s “aggressive style of politics”.
(With agency inputs)
