PATNA: Visiting Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Wednesday issued a call for a ‘BJP-mukt Bharat’, saying the party was posing a great danger to the country by dividing people on religious lines. With his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar by his side, KCR, however, parried queries on whether the Congress would be part of the scheme to forge a broad Opposition unity for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“All anti-BJP parties would hold discussions and take a final call,” was all he was prepared to say when pressed further on whether the Congress would ever accept anyone else other than Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate. It strengthened speculation on the possibility of cobbling together of a non-BJP, non-Congress third front.
Himself an aspirant for the PM’s post, KCR was also evasive on projecting Nitish as the joint Opposition candidate against the BJP. “How can I propose Nitish’s name since somebody can oppose it. Why are you in a hurry? Everything will be decided through consensus,” KCR said. Calling Nitish his elder brother, KCR said the Bihar CM was a senior leader with great ability.
KCR was in Patna ostensibly to disburse aid to the families of five Galwan Valley martyrs and 12 Bihari labourers who were killed in a fire tragedy in Hyderabad.