'Who will say I love you first': Salman Khurshid to Nitish on united opposition

Salman Khurshid said sometimes inexperienced lovers are uninhibited enough to say ‘I Love you’ first after Nitish Kumar said the Congress should take a quick decision of fighting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together with like-minded parties.

The stage for a united opposition ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election was set in Patna on Saturday at the conventions of the CPI(ML) as Bihar chief minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar said the Congress should take a quick decision and fight together. "If they take my suggestion and fight together, they (BJP) will go below 100 seats, but if they don't take my suggestion, you know what will happen," Nitish Kumar who repeatedly dismissed his ambition for the PM chair said.

Nitish Kumar and Salman Khurshid at the 11th CPIML Party Congress in Patna on Saturday. (PTI)

On part of Congress, senior leader Salman Khurshid was present. He said the sentiments are shared by Congress too. "But the situation is akin to lovers taking their time to decide who should say I love you first...it happens that sometimes an inexperienced lover is uninhibited enough to make the first move," Khurshid said.

Nitish Kumar who got the Congress's support to walk out of his alliance with the NDA and to become the chief minister of the Grand alliance in the state said the Congress must not rest on its laurels and should use the momentum gained during Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.

In his speech, Nitish Kumar said the 2024 Lok Sabha polls are the only opportunity to get rid of "these people (the BJP)". He said his exit from the NDA last year had brought the curtains down on the BJP's attempts to expand its footprint at the state level. Something similar should be done at the national level, Nitish Kumar said.

KCR met Nitish Kumar months ago in Patna and the duo discussed about the united opposition. However, for many regional opposition parties an opposition alliance without Congress is not acceptable.