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BJP sharpens attack on Nitish Kumar ahead of Patna meeting of non-BJP parties
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has convened the meeting of non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday to prepare a common ground ahead of the 2024 national polls
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sharpened its attack on Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar ahead of the meeting of non-BJP parties he has convened in Patna on Friday to prepare a common ground ahead of the 2024 national polls.
Samrat Choudhary, BJP’s Bihar chief, on Monday cited state Congress president Akhilesh Singh announcement of Cabinet expansion after a meeting with Kumar and said it was a reflection of the chief minister’s falling clout while he “talks big” of getting together non-BJP parties. “It means he is made to dance to the tunes of others. He has been hijacked.”
He questioned who is the chief minister. “Nitish Kumar or somebody else.” Choudhary called the unity move a sham. “...the country would never accept a weak central government after the fruits of Narendra Modi regime.”
Choudhary referred to the prime ministerial ambitions of non-BJP leaders and said they do not want to articulate them openly. “They are waiting for some miracle to further their ambitions, but that miracle will never happen. Nitish Kumar is lying low as he knows he has nowhere else to go but he does not want to hand over the reins to [his deputy and Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD leader] Tejashwi [Yadav]. Therefore, he is taking all kinds of humiliation even from the Congress.”
BJP member of Parliament (MP) Sushil Kumar Modi said the meeting in Patna was nothing but a gathering of corrupt, dynastic, and casteist leaders. “All the parties coming for the meeting in Patna have their reins in the hands of one family...this is what they want to protect and extend by joining hands despite contrasting ideologies and no meeting points... Many of them have been to jail in corruption cases or are on bail. They cannot impact Narendra Modi even a bit.”
Former Union minister and BJP MP Ravishankar Prasad said the Patna meeting is going to have no impact. “He [Kumar] is a spent force and a master of U-turns. Whatever he does is for himself. Wherever he goes...makes no difference to the BJP....people will never go with him anymore after seeing his actions.”
RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari said the BJP is anxious. “It is natural as Bihar is once again taking the initiative to unite the country and save the Constitution and democratic values...just as it did under [socialist leader] JP [Jayaprakash Narayan] during the emergency [in the 1970s].”
He said today the challenge is bigger and will require greater effort. “With two of JP’s disciples in Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar joining hands, the nervousness of the BJP is quite predictable...they see the writing on the wall, [Congress’s win in] Karnataka [assembly polls] was just the trailer.”
HT on Monday reported that no breakthrough was expected at the meeting and that it will be more of a warm-up for subsequent rounds of engagement. Efforts were on to make a declaration of intent at the meeting to address why the non-BJP parties are keen to join hands and why the meeting in Patna is important.
The participants at the meeting were expected to speak of securing the character of a secular and democratic India and to highlight how the supremacy of the Constitution has been assaulted.
A proposal to put up common candidates for at least 400-450 seats against the BJP will also be discussed at another meeting. Many of the non-BJP parties have been fighting the Congress in some states.
Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha is on the verge of leaving the ruling alliance in Bihar. Telangana’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi has decided against attending the Patna meeting even as Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has been one of the key interlocutors for opposition unity.
