New Delhi: Leaders of the ruling alliance in Bihar – the Congress, the Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) – took an initiative Wednesday to create a strong national Opposition to the BJP in the 2024 elections.
Rahul Gandhi, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav met in Delhi Wednesday – accompanied by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and others – to chalk out a strategy for the Opposition ahead.
Gandhi called the meeting a historic step, while Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar doubled down on his plan to bring more and more parties together.
Rahul said a decision was taken at the meeting to unite Opposition parties “to fight the upcoming elections together”.
विचारधारा की इस लड़ाई में, विपक्ष की एकता की ओर आज एक ऐतिहासिक कदम लिया गया है।
साथ खड़े हैं, साथ लड़ेंगे – भारत के लिए! pic.twitter.com/xoStUuiqyL
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 12, 2023
Addressing the joint media meet with Gandhi, Kumar and Tejashwi, Kharge said: “We have done a historic meeting here. We all have decided that all parties should be united and we will fight upcoming elections together.”
संविधान सुरक्षित रखेंगे,
और लोकतंत्र बचाएँगे !
श्री @RahulGandhi जी और हमने बिहार के मुख्यमंत्री श्री @NitishKumar जी, उपमुख्यमंत्री श्री @yadavtejashwi जी व अन्य नेताओं से मुलाक़ात कर, जनता की आवाज़ को एक साथ उठाने और देश को नई दिशा देने का संकल्प दोहराया। pic.twitter.com/FZP9JsPGaQ
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) April 12, 2023
Nitish Kumar said the task ahead was to bring together more and more parties in the country. “We will sit together and will work together in future. We will walk together — this has been decided. And whosoever agrees, will sit together and decide the future,” he said.
Rahul, however, struck a note of caution, saying the “bringing together” plan was a process. Reiterating that the Opposition would stand together to fight the attacks on the country and its institutions, Rahul said: “This is a process. The Opposition’s vision for the country will be developed. All parties that walk with us, will fight this ideological battle.”
Wednesday’s meeting comes days after Opposition parties united in Parliament over the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe against the Adani group.
While this happened in Delhi, in Tamil Nadu, 19 Opposition parties were hosted by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, under the banner of his All India Federation for Social Justice. Trinamool Congress had called this meeting “political” in nature.
However, opposition unity faces many challenges. Key partner and Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar openly disagreed with the Congress-led Opposition parties recently on the Adani issue and expressed support for his Group in an interview. In the same state, while Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), NCP and Congress are allies, Congress and Sena have been at odds over Veer Savarkar. Rahul Gandhi’s jibe at the Hindutva ideologue last month became a flashpoint in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance with the two parties bickering over their ideological differences.
On the other hand, major players like Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party have barely come on the same page with the grand old party.