NEW DELHI/PATNA: Amid speculation over Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar being appointed UPA convenor, the JD(U) leader along with Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Wednesday called on Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi to discuss strategy for creating an anti-BJP front ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Later in the day, Nitish and Tejashwi met AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Both Kharge and Rahul described the meeting as historic since it set the ball rolling for forging Opposition unity. “We all will work together to achieve that goal,” Kharge said. The meeting comes days after Kharge spoke to Nitish, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. Nitish, who landed in Delhi on Tuesday, met RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav.
In Patna, RJD spokesperson Bhai Birendra said Nitish would be authorised to play the role of UPA convenor. Ever since Nitish walked out of the NDA alliance in Bihar, he has been at the forefront of bringing disparate parties together to put up a united front against the BJP. Speaking to the media, Nitish said: “If everybody agrees, we will work together. The Congress has already taken some initiative and spoken to some parties. We are also holding talks.”
For his part, Rahul was philosophical, saying coming together is a process. Signalling that Nitish will work as a bridge between Congress and parties such as the Trinamool Congress, AAP and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, JD(U) leader K C Tyagi told this newspaper that the meeting was a good beginning.
“The JD(U) and RJD have been waiting for such a meeting since December. Today, we were able to break the impasse. Some of the regional parties maintain a distance from the Congress. We know that without Congress, Opposition unity is not possible. Nitish shares a good rapport with many leaders like Naveen Patnaik, Stalin and Chautala,” he said.
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