2024 LS polls: Nitish asks Congress to decide on Oppn unity ‘at the earliest’

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday called upon the Congress to decide “at the earliest” on forging an alliance of opposition parties against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Lok Sabha elections due next year and said the ruling party’s tally could come down to less than 100 if the opposition unit becomes a reality.

Kumar was addressing the national convention of the CPI-ML (Liberation) here, which was also attended by senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid and deputy CM and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.

CPI-ML (Liberation), which has 12 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar assembly, supports the Nitish Kumar government from the outside.

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Kumar said Congress must not rest on its laurels it has earned during Bharat Jodo Yatra (of Rahul Gandhi) and use the momentum to forge an alliance of the parties opposed to BJP. “I am waiting from the Congress’s nod to proceed, as other parties are willing to come together. Congress should decide which party it would align with and in what states,” he said. “I would like to tell my friends in the Congress that the Yatra went very well. But they must not stop at that.”

Hitting out at the BJP-led government at the Centre, the CM said country was going through miserable conditions. “They (BJP leaders) are doing nothing for the people. They are indulging in self-praise and distorting history. We (opposition parties) want to take the country forward and hence it requires the opposition’s unity,” said Kumar 71, the de facto supremo of the Janata Dal (United) and the longest serving CM of Bihar.

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Kumar also recalled his visits to Delhi shortly after joining “Mahagathbandhan” last year when he met political leaders Rahul Gandhi, CPI(M) secretary general Sitaram Yechury and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Echoing CM Kumar’s views on the coalition against BJP, Tejashwi Yadav said all opposition parties must come together and draw an action plan to take on BJP and its allies. “Congress must decide on its role, as all the opposition parties are ready in the larger interest of the country,” said Yadav, adding that Congress party should start preparing on seats where it’s in direct contest with BJP.

The deputy CM said they (mahagathbandhan government in Bihar) don’t have “Ambani-Adani” to bankroll them. “We also don’t misuse government institutions to crack down on the opposition. Yet, despite being targeted, we came together in Bihar to teach BJP a lesson and establish unity based on the country’s interest,” said the RJD leader.

Congress leader Salman Kurshid said he would take the message to the party high command and push for it, if required. Referring to the CM, Khurshid said, “You raised many points, some openly and some discreetly. As far as my understanding goes, Congress is thinking likewise. But the situation is akin to lovers, who take time to say ‘I love you’ the first,” said the Congress leader. He, however, hastened to add that sometimes inexperienced lovers take too much time to make the first move.

The Congress leader called upon Nitish Kumar to pursue the Bihar model against BJP’s hate model, which would show the way forward.

CPI-ML (Liberation) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said grand unity of opposition parties is needed to wage a decisive struggle “against attacks on the constitution and democracy”.

Taking a dig at the CM’s assertion that he would take share the responsibility of uniting the opposition and was not willing to be the PM candidate, BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand said it showed Kumar is under tremendous pressure by RJD to vacate the CM’s position. “Kumar wants Congress by his side to pre-empt any coup against him in the government,” said Anand.