A day after meeting his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar called on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday, amid efforts to strengthen Opposition unity to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This was the second such meeting in the last one and a half months between Kharge and Kumar.
Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and JD(U) chief Lalan Singh were also present during the meeting held at the Congress president's 10, Rajaji Marg residence.
Venugopal asserted that a "vast majority" of non-BJP parties will meet soon.
“Opposition parties meet will be held. A date and place of the meeting will be announced within 1-2 days. A vast number of parties will be taking part in the meeting,” Venugopal said after the meeting.
“Now the country will be united. The strength of democracy is our message! Mr. @RahulGandhi and I discussed the current political situation with the chief minister of Bihar @NitishKumar today and took forward the process of giving a new direction to the country,” Kharge earlier tweeted.
{{/usCountry}}“Now the country will be united. The strength of democracy is our message! Mr. @RahulGandhi and I discussed the current political situation with the chief minister of Bihar @NitishKumar today and took forward the process of giving a new direction to the country,” Kharge earlier tweeted.
{{/usCountry}}Citing sources, news agency PTI reported that during the meeting, the roadmap for strengthening Opposition unity and a possible meeting of Opposition leaders in Patna was being discussed.
On Sunday, Kumar and Kejriwal called for opposition unity to take on the BJP.
The JD(U) leader met the AAP convenor at his residence and extended “complete support” to him in the ongoing face-off with the Centre over the control of administrative services.
Significantly, the Bihar CM, Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah attended the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka chief minister on Saturday, in a show of opposition unity,
Kumar has been meeting Opposition leaders and regional satraps as part of the unity exercise which is yet to take a concrete shape.