Nitish Kumar takes matchmaker role for Opposition unity
Photo credit twitter Congress
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, September 5: Exploring the kingmaker role in the Opposition unity for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday held a 50-minute long meeting with the former chief of the Congress Rahul Gandhi.
On Saturday, the Bihar chief minister had told the national executive meeting of the Janata Dal (United) that he would work for the Opposition unity for the 2024 general elections.
On Sunday, Gandhi had also said that the Congress would work for the Opposition unity against the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre.
Gandhi had accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for fanning hate in the country.
The Opposition unity theme appears now cruising in a fast lane, with the JD (U), the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi so far coming forth to stick their necks out.
Other constituents of the Opposition bloc are watching on the sidelines even while the former Prime Minister HDS Deve Gowda had mooted the idea of the unity of all the Janata Dal breakaway parties when the Bihar chief minister had snapped ties with the BJP to return to the socialist camp.
The political observers noted that the urgency on the part of Kumar could also be for his bid to search of washing away his associations with the BJP. Kumar had been the chief minister of Bihar for a larger part of his 16 years of stints in the state with the support of the BJP.
Kumar is likely to meet more Opposition leaders in the coming days even while his party has claimed that the Bihar chief minister is not in the race for the prime minister’s post.
The Opposition unity buzz has returned after the BJP had again demonstrated its skills to knife the notion of non-NDA parties being a single block in the elections for the posts of the President and Vice President. The saffron outfit had scripted the Trinamool Congress’ staying away in the election for the post of the Vice President, while cross-voting was the hallmark of the election for the post of President, which was convincingly won by the NDA nominee Droupadi Murmu.
With the Rashtriya Janata Dal patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav now out of jail, he is expected to act as a bridge between the opposition parties and the Congress.
Ironically, the TMC and the TRS are not seen to have working relations with the Congress.
About The Author
