'Country wants stability, coalition days over': Ravi Shankar Prasad hits back at Akhilesh's comment on Bihar politics

New Delhi: The BJP on Thursday made light of the prospect of a larger opposition unity against it for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, saying the era of the likes of V P Singh and H D Deve Gowda, who headed short-lived coalition governments, was gone and the country now wanted stability, development and effective leadership.

"People of India know that the era of Deve Gowda, I K Gujral and V P Singh is gone. The country now wants stability, development, honesty and effective leadership. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided it and enhanced India's prestige," former Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

He was reacting to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav's comments that the political shift in Bihar is a "positive sign" and his hope that a strong alternative to the BJP is formed in the 2024 parliamentary polls.

Prasad said 2024 is faraway and it remains to be seen how much understanding develops among opposition parties, an obvious reference to the lack of unity and cohesion among the BJP's rivals.

Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar had recently dumped the BJP and joined hands with the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal to form a new government in the state, giving rise to the view that opposition parties may set aside their differences and come together in the run-up to the next general elections.