'Coming together of Opposition not a threat to Narendra Modi government'

New Delhi: Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu feels that the coming together of the Opposition on the demonetisation issue is a non-starter and not a threat to the BJP-led government and rules out any real political realignment before the next Lok Sabha elections.

He also says that this grouping up of Opposition parties, which are "jealous" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity, is opportunistic and will not succeed.

"Any political realignment should reflect social realignment or ideological realignment. It can't be based on opportunism propelled by the desire for power. That's why it would not succeed," Naidu told PTI in an interview.

He was responding to a question on the chances of a realignment among political rivals on an anti-BJP plank fuelled by their opposition to the note-ban decision.

Asked about the coming together of these parties in the recent winter session of Parliament that was washed out, he said the Opposition is "jealous" of the popularity of the Prime Minister on account of demonetisation.

"Initially, they did not stop hailing the move. Then they realised, he is becoming further popular. Then they tried to find holes and slowly build a case against it. And then people in media are saying it has given scope for realignment of the political forces," Naidu said.

Attacking the Opposition, he said they are not going to people but only to TV studios.

"And they are holding joint press conferences and then falling apart. Moreover their obstruction tactics in Parliament are not appreciated by the people," he said.

Naidu said the grouping of these Opposition parties is bound to fall apart "because there is no ideological unity, there is no unanimity on programme and there is no unanimity on leadership also".

He added that "Mamataji (Banerjee) wants to project herself. Rahul feels he is the natural claimant to be the leader. Communists and Trinamool cannot go together. So there is no ideological cohesion or availability of a towering personality who has got the moral authority to lead the Opposition." .