Nitish Kumar To Meet Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi Today Amid Talks For 'Opposition Unity'

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday called for opposition unity to take on the BJP and the JD(U) leader extended complete support to Kejriwal in the ongoing face-off with the Centre over the control of administrative services

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Updated on: 22 May 2023 3:57 am

CM Kejriwal, Nitish Kumar meet

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is expected to meet Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and former Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in Delhi today, a day after he met his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal in an attempt to call for opposition unity to challenge the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday called for opposition unity to take on the BJP as the JD(U) leader met the AAP convenor at his residence and extended "complete support" to him in the ongoing face-off with the Centre over the control of administrative services.

बिहार सीएम श्री @NitishKumar जी एवं उपमुख्यमंत्री श्री @yadavtejashwi जी का आज अपने आवास पर आतिथ्य करने का अवसर मिला। दिल्ली में केंद्र सरकार की तानाशाही समेत कई राजनीतिक मुद्दों पर चर्चा हुई।

नीतीश जी और तेजस्वी जी के सभी दिल्लीवासियों के साथ खड़े होने पर मैं उनका शुक्रिया अदा… pic.twitter.com/xaIZ5ludwA
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 21, 2023

Kejriwal said he would meet leaders of various parties to ensure that any bill brought to replace the recent central ordinance, which virtually negated the May 11 Supreme Court order that ruled in favour of his government, is not passed in Rajya Sabha and also urged Kumar to reach out to them to rally support on the issue.

In fact, several opposition parties have slammed the BJP-led central government for the move.

If the bill is defeated in Rajya Sabha, it will send out a message that the BJP will lose the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Kejriwal claimed. "It will be the semi-final of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," the AAP national convenor told reporters outside his residence after meeting Kumar and his deputy and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.

Opposition unity discussions

Interestingly, opposition unity was also showcased at the swearing-in of Congress leader Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar in Bengaluru on Saturday, as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin and a host of leaders arrived in what was seen as a coming together of the non-BJP bloc ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

According to reports, Nitish Kumar has held similar meetings with other opposition leaders in the last month.

Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray at his residence Matoshree, in Mumbai. He also met Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, along with holding discussions with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.

(With inputs from PTI)