Continuing with his bid to forge Opposition unity against the BJP, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday called on NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and CPI ML general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on the last day of his 3-day visit to the national Capital. He had during his stay met several other leaders from the Opposition including Congress, Left and the SP.
On the sidelines of reaching out to leaders, the Bihar CM also paid a courtesy visit to President Draupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar to whom his party JD(U) had extended support in the elections in July when he was aligned with the BJP in the NDA.
Summing up his meetings, Kumar, who is being touted to be the Opposition’s Prime Ministerial candidate to take on Narendra Modi in 2024 Lok Sabha polls, said the grouping will be the "main front" and not the "third front".
"If all non-BJP parties in various states come together, then an atmosphere will emerge for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections where things would not remain one-sided.
With whomever I talked to, there were positive discussions. Whenever someone says there is a need to create a third front, I always say let's make the 'main front'. Whenever it happens, it will be the main front, not the third front.
"Both Pawar and I are keen to unite opposition forces who are not with the BJP. A leader of the alliance can be decided later. It is important to come together first," Kumar said briefing the media. In his about 30-minute meeting with the NCP supremo the broad contours of the opposition alliance is understood to have been discussed.
"I will not be the leader but I am making efforts to unite the entire Opposition. The BJP is trying to capture the country. If everyone fights the elections together, then the picture will be different, we are talking to all the people," he told reporters.
He also met CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya whose party is backing the new alliance led by Kumar in Bihar. There are 16 MLAs of Left parties in the Bihar Assembly supporting the Nitish Kumar government from outside including 12 of CPI(ML) and two each of CPI and CPM. The JD(U) leader said time was ripe to present an alternative to the BJP which, he alleged, was "not doing anything for the people".
During his stay here, he met former Congress chief Rahul Gandh, CPIM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary D Raja, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, INLD supremo OP Chautala, SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. "I have met all the people in Delhi and many of them thanked me for coming out of the NDA.
Everyone wishes that there should be unity in every state and such an atmosphere will be created in the country in the coming days," Kumar said adding he would come to Delhi once again to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has been travelling abroad for personal reasons.
The JD(U) leader said that everyone is talking about opposition unity and "more than a face, a united front was required for the country''. "Everyone realises that those who have the power in their hands, they are creating damage everywhere in the country," he added.
''We had a discussion on how to work for the development of the state with consensus, how to uplift every section of the society and the work has to be done for the welfare of people," Nitish said after his meeting with Bhattacharya who in turn said they discussed how a united opposition should work towards stopping the BJP's "bulldozer raj" in the country.
"It is good that Nitishji is trying to get the Opposition together. The way that the BJP is trying to make India a one-party nation, we will have to fight together as one to thwart BJP's attempt to undermine democracy," said Bhattacharya.