Dismissing the talk of him being a candidate for the prime minister’s post in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday called for a larger Opposition alliance to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Opposition parties need to bury their differences for the welfare of the people looking for an “alternative”, Kumar said.
Kumar was speaking at a meeting of his party Janata Dal (United)’s national executive, which authorised him to work for uniting Opposition parties against the BJP in the run-up to 2024 polls, party leader and state minister Ashok Choudhary said.
“I am not interested in being the prime ministerial candidate, but I want to strive for opposition unity. If the Opposition is united, setting aside their differences, the result will definitely show in 2024,” the senior JD(U) leader said.
Also read: 'But dreams to become PM': BJP mocks Nitish Kumar as 5 JD(U) MLAs in Manipur quit
“Opposition will unify for 2024 elections,” he said, adding that it will “bundle the BJP out for about 50 seats”.
{{/usCountry}}“Opposition will unify for 2024 elections,” he said, adding that it will “bundle the BJP out for about 50 seats”.
{{/usCountry}}Kumar’s statements against the former ally came less than a month after the JD(U) parted ways with the BJP and aligned with Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress and other parties in Bihar to form a new coalition government. Kumar continued his role as the chief minister.
The party’s national executive met a day after five JD(U) MLAs in Manipur defected to the BJP on Friday.
“All the MLAs (from Manipur) had planned their visit to Patna for the national executive meeting and this has happened. People are watching the behaviour of the BJP,” a JD(U) leader quoted Kumar as saying at the meeting.
According to the leader, Kumar alleged that there was a conspiracy to dislodge non-BJP governments across the country.
“When we parted ways from NDA, all our six Manipur MLAs came and met us. They assured us that they were with JDU. We need to think about what is going on. They (BJP) are breaking away the MLAs from the parties, is it constitutional?” Kumar asked.
The JD(U) had contested 38 seats, and won six in the 60-member Manipur Assembly in the state elections held in March this year.
Warning opposition parties of similar developments in other states in the run up to the 2024 polls, Kumar said, “More disturbances may be in the offing. There can be attempts to fan communal tension in the society. Therefore, I urge all the party leaders to be extra cautious for the next two years.”
JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh said BJP revealed its character yet again. “Even when we were allies, they did the same in Arunachal. They will only learn in 2024. They are panicking about 2024 and resorting to such tactics in every state — be it Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi. Jharkhand, but people are also watching. They tried it in Bihar also, but nothing happened,” he said.
“BJP now doesn’t want any other party to grow. But people of India are watching,” JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said.
While this was the first defection of JD(U) MLAs to BJP since change of guard in Bihar, in 2020, when the two parties were still in alliance in the state, six of the seven JD(U) legislators in Arunachal Pradesh joined BJP. Last month, the seventh too switched to BJP.
Meanwhile, at its national executive meeting on Saturday, JD(U) also passed a resolution which alleged there is an “undeclared emergency” in the country under the BJP government which is “trying to silence” opposition voices by “misusing” probe agencies.
The BJP government at the Centre is labelling the democratic right of dissent as “treason”, it alleged.
It also accused the BJP of stoking “communal frenzy” in the country. “Minorities are being targeted. Intolerance and extremism have increased in society. Dalits and tribals are being harassed,” the resolution said.
The party also slammed the ruling BJP for what it called were its authoritarian tendencies and hit out at the ruling party for “destabilising” non-BJP governments in several states, including in Delhi and Jharkhand.
At the meeting, Kumar also announced that he will visit Delhi on September 5 to meet political leaders from various affiliations, senior leaders said.
Also read: Nitish targets BJP after JD(U) MLAs switch sides in Manipur
“I am leaving for Delhi after the JD(U) meetings... I have been in touch with several leaders and will discuss the future road map,” the leaders quoted him as saying.
They said Kumar will return two days later and is expected to meet senior leaders of the Congress, which is now his ally in the state.
The JD(U) leader, whose party wants him to play a “national role” after having been the longest serving chief minister of Bihar, is also likely to interact with his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal who heads the Aam Aadmi Party.
Another prominent leader whom Kumar is likely to meet is former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, whom he has known since they were both in Lok Dal.
The BJP, meanwhile, stepped up its attacks on Kumar.
Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi, who previously served as CM Kumar’s deputy in Bihar, was quick to take a swipe. “After Arunachal, Manipur is also JD(U)-free. Laluji will make Bihar also JD(U)-free very soon,” he tweeted.
(With agency inputs)