The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can be defeated in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections if the opposition parties unite for which “an important meeting” has been scheduled in Patna on June 23 in which Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin will also participate, said his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar on Tuesday.
The Bihar CM didn’t make it to Tamil Nadu on Tuesday to inaugurate the ‘Kalaignar Kottam’ in memory of late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi but his speech was read out at the event.
Stalin also announced that he would be in Patna on June 23 and that he spoke to Kumar over phone on Tuesday morning allaying conjectures over their ties which began after Kumar cancelled at the last minute. His deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and minister Sanjay Jha continued their trip to participate in the centenary celebrations of Karunanidhi’s birth anniversary and once again pitched for a united opposition ahead of the polls.
“We got to know just this morning that he (Nitish Kumar) is unwell so he won’t be able to come,” said a senior DMK leader who organised the event as part of the centenary celebrations for Karunanidhi. Rajya Sabha DMK MP Tiruchi Siva translated Bihar chief minister’s speech to Tamil and read it out. His speech recalled past instances of the Janata Dal showing support to the DMK. “We have taken this effort to unite the opposition parties together. If this unity works out like we hope it would, I am very confident that the BJP will be defeated in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” his speech said.
Stalin said he was going to Bihar’s Patna on June 23 as Karunanidhi’s son to do his part to save India’s democracy. “We all have a duty to stop 10 years of BJP’s autocracy,” Stalin said. “Nitish Kumar is taking the first steps towards that… If I don’t do this, Tamil Nadu which is 3000-4000 years old will disappear… If the BJP is allowed to govern again, and the future of India will be destroyed,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Stalin said he was going to Bihar’s Patna on June 23 as Karunanidhi’s son to do his part to save India’s democracy. “We all have a duty to stop 10 years of BJP’s autocracy,” Stalin said. “Nitish Kumar is taking the first steps towards that… If I don’t do this, Tamil Nadu which is 3000-4000 years old will disappear… If the BJP is allowed to govern again, and the future of India will be destroyed,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Yadav said that Karunanidhi’s model of governance has to be taken to a national level on the tenets of social justice and equality.