During many talks with opposition parties in Delhi on Thursday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was upbeat in preparation for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Notwithstanding his refusal to address what the BJP believed or stated, Kumar said that the opposition had responded favorably, and that the negotiations would proceed.
He left Delhi after three days and arrived back in Patna that evening. He was accompanied by Lalan Singh, the JD(U) party’s national president. After arriving in Patna, Kumar addressed the media.
“Everything is OK, so don’t worry. Meetings were held to bring the opposition together, and everyone responded favorably. You’re all aware of it. We are in communication with various parties and will keep doing so. We must all get together, and a choice will be made quickly. I don’t wish to voice my opinion on what BJP leaders believe or say. They have taken no action, he said.
Kumar currently seems to be in charge of uniting six political groups, including the AAP of Arvind Kejriwal, the Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee, the Samajwadi Party of Akhilesh Yadav, the Biju Janata Dal of Naveen Patnaik, the BRS of K. Chandrashekhar Rao, and the YSRCP of Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The remainder of the parties will be contacted by the Congress. The choice was made on Wednesday at a meeting held at Mallikarjun Kharge, the party’s president, home at 10 Rajaji Marg in New Delhi. When Nitish and the Congress have finished speaking with all parties, a meeting of the unified opposition is scheduled to take place in the final week of April or the first week of May.
The chief minister of Bihar is going to play a crucial part in the whole campaign for the much anticipated Lok Sabha elections. During his discussion with Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish reportedly brought up the issue of opposition unity.
“I spoke with Lalu Prasad on the phone and saw him today. Later, we will inform you about the issue of opposition unity,” stated Nitish.
Wednesday afternoon, Nitish went to the New Friends Colony home of Tejashwi Yadav, the deputy chief minister, and met Rajshri to bless the couple’s infant. Tejashwi, minister Sanjay Jha, and MP Manoj Jha, members of Nitish Kumar’s team, met with Kharge and senior politician Rahul Gandhi.
Tejashwi, Nitish ji, Rahul Gandhi, and other key politicians are here today. We had a historic meeting where we covered a wide range of topics and came to the conclusion that we must all work together. Everyone agrees that all of the parties should run for office together. All parties must band together and campaign together, according to Kharge.
The goal, according to Nitish, is to “pull together as many opposition groups against the BJP as possible” and “create a common path” by putting more emphasis on shared accomplishments than conflicting viewpoints. He continued by saying that once every opposition party starts to speak favorably of this route, people would be astonished by how many of them unite on a single platform.
Speaking to the media, Gandhi said: “We had an important meeting to unite the opposition. The opposition’s perspective will emerge; it is a process. We’ll engage in the ideological conflict. The opposition has come together today thanks to a historic decision.
Later that night, Nitish also met Kejriwal at his home. “Inflation is a concern for the average person. A government that can advance the nation and resolve other issues need to exist. We fully support Nitish Ji’s attempt to bring everyone together and form an opposition, Kejriwal stated.
Nitish also had one-on-one meetings with Doraisamy Raja, the national secretary of the CPI, and Sitaram Yechury, the general secretary of the CPI(M), to plan a future course of action. At the state level, seat adjustments will be made. We have faith that we are making progress. Each state has a unique set of problems, thus each state will use a distinct set of strategies. The removal of the BJP from the Center will be the key goal. The UPA was established in 2004 after the election. For now, we shouldn’t act hastily, Yechury remarked.
Samrat Chaudhary, the head of the Bihar BJP, remarked: “I do not comprehend who Nitish Kumar wants to unify. Everyone I’ve met wants to be a prime minister. He should first focus about Bihar since he is the chief minister of that state. People are battling unemployment here, riots are occurring, and they are hard at work chasing a dream that will never come true.
Sharad Pawar, the leader of the NCP, signaled his party’s support for putting together an opposition front, which was positive. This campaign will benefit from the Shiv Sena, Congress, and NCP joining together to establish the Maha Vikas Aghadi under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray. The Congress-led UPA already seems to be doing well in states like Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu.
Nitish opposed the notion of a non-Congress opposition front put out by figures like KCR, Mamata, or even Akhilesh since he thought the Congress was the BJP’s direct electoral competitor in as many as 250 seats. Nitish Kumar still has a struggle in winning over these figures and enlisting their support for a unified opposition front.