The DMK on Friday said the change of government in Bihar had generated “fresh enthusiasm to renew the efforts for a grand alliance of Opposition parties” ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The development in Bihar, with chief minister Nitish Kumar dumping ruling ally BJP to tie up with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress and Left parties, has pan-Indian implications, DMK publication Murasoli wrote in an editorial.

Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin had earlier called for unity among secular parties while congratulating Nitish and his new deputy chief minister, Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD, in a tweet.

“Heartiest wishes to Thiru@Nitishkumar and my brother @yadavtejashwi as the CM and Deputy CM of Bihar respectively. The return of the grand alliance in Bihar is a timely effort in the unity of secular and democratic forces in the country,” Stalin had said.

Murasoli said that although Nitish had now assumed office as chief minister for the eighth time since he first occupied the chair in 2005, “this time it is being seen as very significant, going beyond the political boundaries of Bihar into the space of pan-Indian politics”.

It cited how Nitish had told a news conference that the Narendra Modi government “would need to worry about its prospects in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls”, and asserted that this proved the “correctness” of the DMK president’s reading of the implications of the changes in Bihar.

It lauded the Janata Dal United leader’s resolve to work to strengthen the Opposition in the country, highlighting his remark that “He who came in 2014, will he be able to stay on beyond 2024? Whether I’m there or not, he will not be there in 2024.”

Stalin had earlier this year begun efforts at Opposition unity, launching an All India Federation for Social Justice to defend the rights of disadvantaged communities and asking other parties to join in.

He had expressed hope that this all-India forum would help promote Tamil Nadu’s “Dravidian model” of inclusive and secular governance as an alternative to the BJP’s Hindutva politics. Parties such as the Congress, CPM and the CPI had agreed to join the forum.

Tejashwi had during a Chennai visit in February — while sharing a platform with Rahul Gandhi, CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan and other Opposition leaders to launch the first volume of Stalin’s autobiography — urged the Opposition to “collectively resist the assault on constitutional values” by the Modi government.