Nitish Kumar met Rahul Gandhi for the first time today since he quit the NDA alliance in Bihar

New Delhi:

Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal United (JDU) leader Nitish Kumar once again ruled out his prime ministerial ambitions as he met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi today. The leaders reportedly discussed the prevailing political situation in the country and ways to strengthen Opposition unity. This is the first time the two leaders met after Mr Kumar quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar and formed a grand alliance with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and with outside support from the Left parties. Mr Kumar is making an attempt to bring all Opposition parties together in order to fight the BJP as a united front in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Mr Kumar said: “There is a concerted effort to weaken regional parties. My effort is to unite the Opposition ahead of the General Elections. I have no intention of pitching myself as a prime ministerial candidate.”

The JDU leader reached New Delhi earlier today and is likely to meet several key Opposition leaders during his three-day tour, including Sharad Pawar of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Convenor Arvind Kejriwal and HD Kumaraswamy, the chief of Janata Dal Secular (JDS). He is also scheduled to meet Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhileash Yadav and leaders from the Left parties. Mr Kumar is being accompanied by Lallan Singh, his party’s national president, and Bihar ministers Sanjay Jha and Ashok Chaudhary.

According to JDU sources, Mr Kumar is also scheduled to visit Maharashtra, Haryana and Karnataka soon in order to ensure better coordination between the Opposition parties.

On September 2, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had met the Bihar Chief Minister in Patna. While sharing the dais with Mr Kumar during a public meeting, Mr Rao had raised the slogan of “BJP Mukt Bharat” (BJP-free India) for the 2024 General Elections.