Reacting to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s call for a ‘united Opposition’ to fight against the BJP, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Saturday said his party too wanted the same, but the situation was akin to “lovers taking their time to decide who should say I love you first”.
The leaders, part of the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), were addressing the convention of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) here.
“The situation is akin to lovers taking their time to decide who should say I love you first… it happens that sometimes an inexperienced lover is uninhibited enough to make the first move,” Mr. Khurshid said.
Earlier, speaking at the event, Mr. Kumar had said, “If they [united Opposition] take my suggestion and fight together, they [BJP] will go below 100 seats but if they don’t take my suggestion, you know what will happen.” The CM further asserted that he was not desirous for the Prime Minister’s chair.
Lauds yatra
Mr. Kumar appreciated the success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra undertaken by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and said, “The Congress must not rest on its laurels and should use the momentum gained during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.”
The JD(U) leader had earlier met several Opposition leaders to forge a ‘united Opposition’ against the BJP for the 2024 parliamentary elections. Mr. Kumar had snapped ties with the BJP in August 2022 to form the mahagathbandhan government along with six other parties including the RJD and Congress.
Meanwhile, Telengana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) has been pitching for a non-Congress and non-BJP front to oppose the BJP in the elections. KCR had even come to Patna and met Mr. Kumar, which they later said was a ‘courtesy’ meeting.
Talking to The Hindu, sources in ruling Bihar alliance parties JD(U) and RJD opined that no unity of Opposition parties to counter the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was possible without taking the Congress party on board.
“Congress is a national party and there cannot be a united Opposition without them to counter the BJP and PM Narendra Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll. It is ridiculous to talk of a non-Congress Opposition at national level,” said a senior RJD leader on condition of anonymity. State Congress leaders refused to comment on the matter.
