BJP, RJD Hit Back After Omar Abdullah Says INDIA Bloc Is ‘On Life Support’

A day after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah questioned the condition of the opposition’s INDIA bloc, both the ruling BJP and an opposition ally responded sharply to his remarks.

Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Abdullah said the alliance was “on life support” and struggling to stay politically relevant. “Every once in a while, somebody brings out the paddles and gives us a shock, and we get up again. But then results like Bihar happen, and we slump down again… back into the ICU,” he said.

BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain dismissed Abdullah’s assessment, saying the alliance had already “passed away.”

“It’s not the INDI alliance that is on life support — it has already passed away and its last rites have been performed. Perhaps Omar Abdullah didn’t attend them,” Hussain told PTI. He added that the bloc had “no office, no leader, no policy and no roadmap,” calling it a grouping driven only by “resentment and jealousy towards PM Modi.”

Reacting to Abdullah’s comments, RJD MP Manoj Jha urged caution and said political alliances often face ups and downs.

“When there are slightly adverse circumstances, some people rush to make quick comments. One should refrain from that. The public decides who rises and who falls,” Jha said.

He added that challenges facing the INDIA bloc were a collective responsibility: “This is not an issue of one political party. All parties in the alliance share responsibility — and that responsibility doesn’t end with sarcastic remarks.”