Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, accompanied by JD-U's President Lalan Singh, held a significant meeting on Monday with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Following the meeting, they announced plans to convene a gathering of opposition parties in the near future. This meeting led by Nitish Kumar is regarded as a significant effort to unite non-BJP parties and like-minded groups in preparation for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
After the discussions, Congress General Secretary for Organisation, K.C. Venugopal, addressed the media, stating, "We will soon finalize the date and venue for the opposition party meeting. This decision will be made within the next one or two days, and we anticipate the participation of a majority of parties."
JD-U's national President Rajiv Ranjan, also known as Lallan Singh, stated, "Today's meeting primarily focused on opposition unity. We will determine the date and schedule for an all-party meeting in the next day or two. Further details regarding the attendees and the timing of the meeting will be communicated in due course."
During the hour-long discussion held at Congress chief's residence in 10 Rajaji Marg, the leaders engaged in brainstorming sessions to devise a collective strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
However, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav did not attend the meeting on account of health reasons, as per sources.
Following his meeting with Nitish Kumar, Kharge tweeted, "The country shall stand united now. Strengthening democracy is our message. Today, Rahul Gandhi and I discussed the current political situation with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, advancing the process of charting a new course for the country."
On April 12, Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Nitish Kumar, and Tejashwi Yadav had their first meeting with the intention of unifying opposition parties.
After the meeting last month, the Bihar Chief Minister expressed his commitment to unite more and more parties across the country against the BJP. In recent weeks, Kumar also engaged with leaders from various regional parties in an attempt to bring them together with the Congress on a single platform to challenge the BJP in the upcoming elections.
JD-U leaders met with AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday, offering their complete support to him in response to the Centre's move to nullify a Supreme Court judgment regarding administrative services in the national capital.
Furthermore, Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, and National Conference President Farooq Abdullah attended the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on Saturday, showcasing a display of opposition unity.
However, some regional leaders, including Kejriwal and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, among others, were not invited by the Congress.
With their resounding victory in Karnataka, the Congress now possesses increased bargaining power. The party intends to surpass its previous constraint of around 200 seats and demand a greater share, asserting its national presence as the sole party capable of taking on the BJP.
Kharge has previously reached out to several opposition leaders, including Stalin and Shiv Sena-UBT leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, in an effort to foster unity among like-minded parties against the BJP.
Nitish Kumar has also met with Soren, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, BJD leader Naveen Patnaik, Uddhav Thackeray, NCP chief Sharad Pawar to bring them on same platform.
(With inputs from IANS)
