Nitish’s Opposition coalition bid gets a boost as Mamata, Akhilesh offer support
KOLKATA/LUCKNOW/PATNA: AS part of his efforts to unite the Opposition ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav met West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav separately on Monday.
Both Mamata and Akhilesh offered their support to the coalition in the works. After the 30-minute closed-door meeting with Mamata in Kolkata, Kumar said the outcome was ‘positive’. Mamata said her objective is to defeat the BJP. “I want the BJP to become zero,” she said, adding: “Jayprakashji’s movement started from Bihar. If we have an all-party meeting in the neighbouring state, we can decide our next course of action.”
Later in the day, Nitish met Akhilesh in Lucknow and secured his support. “We are with you in this campaign to oust BJP out of power and save the constitution, the democracy and the country,” Akhilesh said. For the record, Nitish sought to clarify that he was not in the race to be the leader of the Opposition coalition nor is a PM candidate.
Meanwhile, the BJP took potshots at Nitish with party MP Sushil Kumar Modi terming the Bihar politician’s hurried visits to Kolkata and Lucknow as ‘political tourism meant for photo sessions’.