'Rahul Gandhi out but…': Congress on attending Nitish Kumar's big opposition meet

Opposition meeting in Patna on June 12: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has reached out to opposition leaders in an effort to unite against the BJP before the 2024 poll.

The Congress will 'definitely' attend a potentially crucial meet of 'like-minded' political parties - those that do not support the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party - expected to be held in Patna in Bihar on June 12, the party's communications in-charge, Jairam Ramesh, told reporters Thursday afternoon. However, whom the party will appoint as its representative is not yet decided, Ramesh added.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar at the former's residence in New Delhi. (ANI Photo/Ayush Sharma)

"We will attend the meeting on June 12 (in Patna). Who (will be deputed) has to be decided. I am sure Congress president (Mallikarjun Kharge) and other leaders will decide but we will attend the meeting," he told news agency ANI.

"We had appealed to advance date of meeting… but the organisers are probably unable to extend it. Rahul Gandhi is out (the Congress leader is a on 10-day visit to the United States) and party president (Kharge) also has many programmes. If they are not able to go then someone else will…"

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This comes less than 10 days after Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar met Kharge to discuss strategy for the June 12 meeting, which sources said focused on understanding differences between state- and national-level issues.

“Country will be united now. Strength of democracy is our message… Rahul Gandhi and myself discussed current political situation with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar…” Kharge tweeted after the meeting with Nitish Kumar.

DMK 'will surely attend', JMM too

Tamil Nadu's ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - an ally of the Congress - is also expected to attend but chief minister MK Stalin, who is understood to have a prior commitment on June 12 - may not be present.

"I will attend inaugural ceremony of Mettur Dam on the same date... even Congress president will be at different event and won't be able to attend... So, I have asked for meeting to be pushed back (but) DMK will surely participate..."

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha of chief minister Hemant Soren will also be present; "Since all opposition parties have enlisted participation, we, too, will attend," Soren told reporters. The Congress and the JMM are allies in Jharkhand.

The opposition's big meeting

The meeting later this month is (possibly) a big step forward in the opposition's bid to unite against the BJP before next year's Lok Sabha election, in which the ruling party will bid for an unprecedented third consecutive term in power.

READ | Opposition unity meeting in Patna likely on June 12: CM Nitish Kumar

That they will meet in Bihar reflects outreach efforts by Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, who have met several major opposition leaders over the past few weeks in a bid to cobble together support for the anti-BJP front.

Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav have met ex-Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, as well as Nationalist Congress Party boss Sharad Pawar.

All three are expected to attend the Patna meeting.

The Bihar leader also met his Odisha counterpart but Biju Janata Dal boss Naveen Patnaik - who met prime minister Narendra Modi before Nitish Kumar's arrival in Bhubaneshwar - refused to be drawn on assurances of support.

READ | Nitish Kumar, Naveen Patnaik meet say no alliance talks

After his meeting with Pawar, Nitish Kumar said: "What the BJP is doing is not in the country's interest. So, the more opposition parties come together the better it is (for) the nation. We have spoken with several parties…"

The 'historic' meet with the Congress

Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav's outreach kickstarted after an April meeting with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi.

After the meeting - which the Congress leaders later referred to as a 'historic' step before the 2024 - Nitish Kumar began reaching out to opposition leaders who have kept distance from the Congress, like the Aam Aadmi Party of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress.

READ | 'Historic step to unite opposition': Rahul Gandhi after meeting Nitish

Meanwhile, Kejriwal (accompanied by party colleague and Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann) and Tamil Nadu CM Stalin met in Chennai on Friday.

READ | Kejriwal gets Thackeray's support in battle against centre's ordinance

Interestingly, Kejriwal has also been meeting opposition leaders, including Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, to gather support in the AAP's battles against the BJP-led centre's ordinance over control of bureaucrats in Delhi.

The BJP's response

Significantly, opposition parties will meet as the BJP (and prime minister Narendra Modi) holds a 'Jan Sampark Abhiyan' to 'reach out to the people (of Bihar)' from May 30 to June 30. PM Modi is expected to visit Bihar this month and address a public event in Patna as part of his programme.

READ | As Nitish preps for opposition's unity meet, BJP plans big in Bihar

"As stated recently, we had urged the PM to visit Bihar during the 'Jan Sampark Abhiyan'... we have received in-principle approval," Bihar BJP chief Samrat Chaudhary told news agency PTI.

Battleground: Bihar?

Bihar is also emerging as a potentially key state for the BJP in its efforts to win the 2024 election despite the party-led National Democratic Alliance winning 39 of 40 seats in the 2019 poll. The fact Nitish Kumar - whose Janata Dal (United) won 16 of those seats - cut ties with them and re-aligned himself with Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal hasn't helped.

With input from agencies