Polls 2024: Nitish calls on opposition parties to help India get rid of BJP rule
LUCKNOW: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar accompanied by his deputy Tejaswi Yadav met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav here on Monday.
While pitching for the opposition’s unity, Nitish Kumar made it clear yet again that he was a contender neither for the leadership of the opposition coalition nor the Prime Ministership.
“Humko nahi banna hai … yeh baat achchi tarah se jaan lijiye. Hum sabko khali ek jut karne mein lage hain (I am not there to become the leader (of the opposition parties), I am only working to bring everyone together),” Nitish told the media at a brief press conference which he addressed with Akhilesh and Tejaswi.
He was replying to a query if the opposition had made their decision over their leader for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Nitish Kumar said once the entire opposition came together, the leader would also be decided.
Asked if he had the plan to meet Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati as well, Nitish dodged the question saying that as of now he had come to meet the SP's national president.
The three leaders had a closed-door meeting at SP headquarters for 4 minutes.
In his welcome address, Akhilesh announced that he was a part of Bihar CM’s endeavour to bring the opposition parties together to take on the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“Indian democracy and the Constitution are under threat. We are with you in this campaign to oust BJP out of power and save the constitution, the democracy and the country,” he said.
Nitish stressed the synchronised unification of as many opposition parties as possible to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.
Asked if he planned to play the role that Jayaprakash Narayan had played to lead a movement against Indira Gandhi during the Emergency, Nitish said he was a disciple of JP.
Accusing BJP of doing nothing but false publicity, Nitish said, “People are planning to change India’s history. We have to come together to help India get rid of BJP rule,” he said, adding that he has had constructive and positive discussions with the SP chief.
He expressed hope that the unity among the socialist parties in UP and Bihar will have a vast impact on the election results in 2024 as the two states account for a total of 120 seats.
Earlier, the SP chief deputed a delegation of senior leaders led by national general secretary Shivpal Yadav to receive Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav at Lucknow airport and accompany them to the party headquarters.
The delegation comprised state president Naresh Uttam Patel and MLA Arman Khan among others.
Nitish Kumar along with Tejashwi had reached Kolkata earlier in the day where they called on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.