New Delhi, Jun 5 (PTI) The INDIA bloc is "dead and buried", existing on paper and TV screens perhaps but not in reality, the BJP said on Friday after the DMK announced that it will not participate in the alliance's meeting in New Delhi on June 8.

In a major setback for the opposition alliance, the DMK said on Thursday that it would stay away from the meeting because the Congress would be taking part in it. The decision is a continuation of its stand against the Congress ever since the national party joined hands with the TVK, which won the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

"The INDI alliance has now broken into pieces. It was predicted that on May 4 there would be nothing called the INDI alliance left, and that prediction has come true," BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, referring to the results of assembly elections in five states, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal. "The INDI alliance is dead and buried. It may exist on paper and on television screens, but it does not exist in reality," he said.

Citing the DMK's decision to skip the meeting, he alleged that the Congress has "betrayed" its allies, "The DMK has flatly refused to join the Congress at the INDIA alliance meeting scheduled in the coming days. It has said that the Congress has backstabbed it," the BJP spokesperson said in a video statement.

Questioning the partnership of the opposition parties, Poonawalla claimed that its parties are rivals in several states.

"And where does the INDIA alliance exist in reality? Was it together in West Bengal, Punjab, Karnataka, Delhi, Uttarakhand or Madhya Pradesh?" he asked.

Poonawalla alleged that the alliance is driven by political opportunism rather than any common objective.

"This alliance was a model of opportunism. There was no mission, only confusion, division and ambition for positions," he said.

The BJP spokesperson claimed that parties in the alliance are fighting one another in states while projecting unity at the national level.

"The Congress and the Left were engaged in political combat in Kerala but claimed friendship in Delhi. They were fighting each other in places like West Bengal but projecting unity in the national capital," he said.

Claiming that regional parties have lost trust in the Congress, Poonawalla alleged that its allies now see it as a "deceitful party".

"After the DMK was betrayed, all regional parties have understood that the Congress is a deceitful party," he said.

Referring to the Samajwadi Party, he claimed that it has signalled its intent to go alone in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

"The Samajwadi Party has already said that it will contest all 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh and will not have any alliance with the Congress," he said, adding that the opposition alliance no longer exists in any meaningful sense.

Dravidian major DMK said it will not participate in the opposition meeting next week in order to respect the sentiments of its cadres, who were deeply hurt by the betrayal of the Congress party. PTI ADI MIN MIN