by Alok Mohit
PATNA: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad met Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Sunday to stress on the need to stich a cohesive front of all opposition parties to defeat the BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Talking to reporters after the meeting at Gandhi’s residence, Kumar said all Opposition parties must come together to oust BJP from power at the centre in 2024.
“Sonia Gandhi told us that the Congress was in the process of electing its new president. She said we will meet after the Congress internal elections and take forward the exercise to unite the Opposition parties,” Kumar added.
This was Kumar’s first meeting with Gandhi since he severed ties with the BJP and formed a government with the RJD and Congress in Bihar in August.
The RJD chief said the Congress had always been in the forefront in fighting the BJP. Without the Congress a strong alliance was not possible, Lalu Prasad added.
The internal election of the party is due on October 17 in which Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is seen as the frontrunner for the president’s post.
Earlier in the day, Kumar called for uniting all opposition parties, including the Congress and the Left, to take on the BJP and said this was not just about the “third front”, but about a need to cobble together a “main front” to defeat the present regime.
He was speaking at a rally organised by the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Haryana’s Fatehabad to mark 109th birth anniversary of former deputy prime minister Choudhary Devi Lal. The rally was attended by the leaders of many political parties, including Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar, CPI(M) leader Sitram Yechury, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Sukhbir Singh Badal and Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena.
Addressing the rally, Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav said. Kumar’s decision to part ways with the BJP would prove to be the last nail in the saffron party’s coffin. He said Kumar had no vested interests, but his only ambition was to uproot the communal forces.
