First steps towards Oppn unity: Nitish Kumar to reach out to six parties, Cong to contact the rest

Sources said Kumar told the Congress leadership that he would reach out to leaders of six parties, most of them who do not share a good equation with the grand old party and at least two that are not in the Opposition fold. Kumar, according to insiders, plans to speak to Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal, Telangana CM and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao (popularly known as KCR, and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav. The Bihar CM, according to sources, said at the meeting that he would also reach out to YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) chief and Andhra Pradesh CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik. The BJD and the YRSCP are not part of the Opposition grouping and are seen as close to the BJP.

Once Kumar reaches out and talks to these parties and the Congress talks to the others, there could be a meeting of all the Opposition parties by the end of the month, according to insiders.

After meeting the Congress, Kumar and Tejashwi held discussions with Kejriwal at his residence. After the meeting, the Delhi CM said, “We are with Nitish Kumar in his efforts to bring people and the Opposition parties together.”

Earlier, both Kharge, Rahul, and Kumar described the meeting as “historic”. On the ground, many of the Opposition parties are pitted against each other — West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana being key examples. Some of the leaders, particularly Mamata Banerjee, have announced they will go alone in the 2024 elections.

Then there is the hurdle of an alternative grouping and reluctance by some of the parties to accept the leadership of the Congress. After the meeting between Akhilesh and Banerjee last month, the SP and the TMC indicated they would not be joining any formation led by the Congress.

Until recently, particularly after facing a debacle in the 2019 general elections, the AAP also steadfastly avoided walking into any joint platform of the Opposition, while also regularly sniping at the Congress. But of late, the party has shown signs of a rethink.

Following the meeting with the Bihar CM and his deputy, Kejriwal told reporters, “The country is going through a difficult period. And as I have said before, this is possibly the most corrupt (Union) government in post-independent India. It has become so difficult for a common man to run his family.”

The Delhi CM added, “That’s why it is important that the entire country and the entire opposition come together and change the government at the Centre and replace it with one that addresses the needs and grievances of the people.” AAP’s Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha and RJD MP Manoj Jha were also present at the meeting.

Nitish said, “And now it has been decided that we will work to bring as many as possible Opposition parties together. We will work for unity.”

Both parried questions on who would lead a possible joint Opposition front, with Kejriwal saying, “It is not possible to answer all your questions after one meeting. We will have the answers as we move forward on this path.”

Sources said ideas such as appointing a non-Congress leader as the chairperson or convener of the Opposition front to address the concerns of some of the parties that do not share a good equation with the Congress were discussed at Kumar and Tejashwi’s meeting with the Congress leadership.

“We had a historic meeting and we discussed many things. We all have decided that we should bring together all the parties and unitedly go into elections coming ahead. That was our decision. We will work unitedly to achieve that goal … we will all work on that line,” Kharge said, addressing a joint press conference afterwards with Rahul, Nitish, and Tejashwi.

Echoing Kharge, Nitish said efforts would be to bring together as many parties as possible across the country. “We will make an effort. (If) everybody agrees, we will sit and together we will move forward together. This has been decided. They (the Congress) have spoken to some people on these issues … We are also talking … Based on today’s discussions, we will move forward. Aur jitne log agree karenge, us sab logon ko phir hum log baith karke apas main aage ka nirnay tay karenge (Those who agree, we will sit with them and then decide on a strategy),” he said.

Asked how many parties were coming together, Nitish said, “You will get to know the day we meet. A large number of parties are coming together.”

Gandhi said the meeting was a historic step to unite the Opposition. “You asked how many parties will be brought together. See, it is a process. We will develop the Opposition’s vision for the country and we will take all those parties who will come with us. The country is witnessing an ideological battle. And we will fight that battle. The attacks on institutions, the attack on the country … we will unitedly stand against those attacks.”