PATNA: JD (U) boss and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday sought to prod Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi to quickly take the initiative to stitch up a broad Opposition alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, saying if they did, the BJP would not even be able to cross the 100-seat mark.
“I want you people (Congress) to make a quick decision. If they accept my suggestion and contest elections together, they (BJP) will be restricted to below 100 seats, but if they don’t take my suggestion, you know what will happen,” Nitish warned while addressing a CPI (ML) event in the Bihar capital.
RJD leader and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad echoed the CM. Both Nitish and Tejashwi appear to be in a hurry because they want clarity on their where they would fit into the Opposition unity matrix. When Nitish snapped his pre-poll pact with the BJP a few months ago and formed a Grand Alliance with the RJD, he signaled his ambition to be projected as the Opposition’s prime ministerial pick. But Rahul’s successful Bharat Jodo Yatra changed both the optics and the dynamics.
As for deputy chief minister, he would want Nitish to move upstairs so as to enable him to keep his word that Tejashwi would lead the Grand Alliance in the Bihar Assembly elections in 2025 and become the next CM.
Both, of course, understand that a credible Opposition alliance would not be possible if the Congress is not on board. There are indications that the Grand Alliance could project Nitish’s name as its PM candidate at its meeting on Purnea on February 25 if the Congress fails to expedite the process of cobbling together an Opposition alliance.
At the event, the Congress was represented by Salman Khurshid. “You have a good proposal. I expect a decision will be taken soon. I will inform my party’s top leadership about it,” he assured.