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Express News Service
MUMBAI: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav met former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and NCP boss Sharad Pawar in Mumbai on Thursday where they decided to come together against the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Nitish has been meeting Opposition leaders to strengthen the bloc against the BJP months before the parliamentary polls. He met his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday in Bhubaneswar.
Niitish who stunned the BJP last year when he snapped ties and stripped it of power in Bihar, had caught the national imagination with his pitch for a ‘united opposition’ which, he believes, can take on and defeat the BJP in next year’s Lok Sabha polls.
After the meeting at Silver Oak, the residence of the NCP leader, Pawar said the theme of the meeting was Opposition unity. He said that considering the current situation in the country, there is a need to work together to save the country’s democracy. “People will support such efforts aimed at uniting against the BJP,” said Pawar.
Nitish Kumar said all parties should come together against the BJP. “We are seeing how the BJP is trying to change history. We have to save the country. The BJP-ruled government did not work for the people. The media has been pressured. No work has been done by the incumbent government, yet they are dividing people on the basis of caste and religion. The discussions have started,” said the JD-U leader.
Asked if Pawar will be the face of the opposition alliance, Kumar said, “There will be nothing more delightful than that. I have told him that he has to work with more vigour not only for his party but for the entire country.” The more opposition parties come together, the better it is in the interest of the country, Kumar said.
“We have started working for the larger interest of the country. The BJP-RSS has nothing to do with the freedom of India, they are dividing the country. In the upcoming elections, we are confident of a positive result,” said Nitish.
He said he is uniting the Opposition not for any self-interest but for the larger interest of the country. He said he doesn’t want anything, but democracy has to be protected. Pawar said as far as he knew, the people of Karnataka will move forward to form a secular government after removing the BJP from power.
“This anti-BJP trend is not limited to Karnataka. A similar sentiment prevails across the country. I am happy that Nitish ji has taken the initiative as a mission. We held talks today and decided to move forward from here,” said Pawar.
“When Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and other secular party people met in Delhi, we discussed the same topic – the Opposition unity,” said Pawar.
Earlier in the day, Nitish and Tejashwi had lunch at former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Tahckeray’s residence Matoshree after arriving in Mumbai. After lunch, Uddhav and Nitish Kumar jointly addressed a presser where Thackeray said that for the first time, Nitish and Tejashwi came to his residence. He called Nitish Kumar a warrior.
“In India, everyone is talking about whether democracy will survive. Those who want to save democracy have to come together against those who are murdering our democracy. Nitish Kumar will bind all opposition leaders and strengthen their unity against the BJP,” Uddhav added.
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