Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar on April 24 ramped up efforts to unite the Opposition parties against the BJP in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha election by holding separate meetings with his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow.
Mr. Kumar vowed to work hard to forge Opposition unity and said a “good result” can be produced if all parties fight the election together. Ms. Banerjee emphasised on the need for Opposition parties to send out a message of unity, while the SP chief extended his full support to the Bihar CM’s campaign to “save democracy and the Constitution”.
The JD(U) chief first called on Ms. Banerjee, along with his deputy and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, and termed the meeting “very positive”. “Before the parliamentary election, the Opposition parties need to sit together and strategise,” Mr. Kumar said.
Addressing mediapersons at the State Secretariat along with Mr. Kumar and Mr. Tejashwi Yadav, the Trinamool Congress chairperson said she wants “the BJP to become zero” as they have turned “a big hero with the media’s support and by resorting to false narratives, promises and videos, and thuggery. This can’t continue”.
‘People vs BJP’
Ms. Banerjee said she and Mr. Kumar are reaching out to the leaders of Opposition parties and “there is no question of personal ego”. “We are all together and want to work collectively. This is the message we want to send out,” she said.
She also appealed to Mr. Kumar to hold an “all-party” meeting in Bihar. “I have made a request to Nitish ji. Just like [socialist leader] Jayaprakash Narayan started his movement [to remove the government at the Centre] from Bihar [in the 1970s], a meeting of all Opposition parties should be held in the State,” she said, adding that “it’s going to be the people versus the BJP in next year’s general election”.
On the Opposition adopting a one-seat-one-candidate formula against the BJP, Ms. Banerjee said the next course of action, including the joint manifesto, will be decided after the Opposition parties sit together and hold discussions.
‘Not eyeing PM post’
Later in the day, Mr. Kumar met the SP chief and said he held “a good discussion” with him. “Whatever is being planned is for the nation’s interest,” he said. Mr. Akhilesh Yadav said he supported the Bihar CM’s campaign to unseat the ruling BJP. “We are with you in your campaign to protect democracy and the Constitution. Due to the BJP’s wrong economic policies, the farmers, poor and labourers are in pain,” the SP chief said.
Mr. Kumar also reiterated that he was not eyeing the Prime Minister’s chair. “I don’t want anything for myself. I am not an aspirant for the PM’s post.”
Reacting to the meetings, JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh said Mr. Kumar will be successful in uniting the Opposition parties, while Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras said “the NDA [National Democratic Alliance] will form the government in 2024 with two-thirds majority”.
The West Bengal BJP also did not attach much importance to the meeting in Kolkata. “We have seen such efforts in 2014 and 2019, and the results are before us,” BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said.
