Ramping up efforts to forge Opposition unity, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday met Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and said talks are on to bring together as many parties as possible to remove the BJP from power in the next general elections.
No welfare work is being done by the present dispensation which is only relying on publicity, the JD(U) leader said attacking the BJP after meeting Yadav at the SP office here, hours after he held talks with his West Bengal counterpart and Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in Calcutta.
Asked if any decision has been taken on who will lead the joint front, Nitish said, "No, once the unity takes place, the leader will be decided. And whosoever becomes the leader will work in the interest of the country.
"And, one thing I would like to tell you about myself. I don't want to be (the leader). Know this very well that I am uniting everyone. I don't want anything for myself. I will work in the interest of the country. There will be other people as well, and we will sit and decide," Nitish, who was accompanied by RJD leader and Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, told reporters.
He alleged that efforts were being made to change the country's history and people should be informed about what was happening.
"Keeping everything in mind, talks are already on with everyone. Talks were held today as well. At this point, I would only say that we should unite with as many parties and contest the next (Lok Sabha) election.
"If we fight unitedly, it will be very good and in the interest of the country. Talks have been held with this point of view," Nitish said.
Backing Nitish's views, Akhilesh Yadav alleged that due to the "wrong economic policies" of the BJP, the poor are suffering and price rise and unemployment are "at an all-time high".
"The BJP should be removed and the country be saved, and we are with you in this campaign," the SP chief said.
The Bihar chief minister had come to Lucknow after meeting Banerjee in Kolkata earlier in the day.
The two regional satraps too stressed the need to "prepare together" for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"It was a very positive discussion... Opposition parties need to sit together and strategise," said Kumar after the meeting at the state secretariat Nabanna in Kolkata.
The BJP dubbed the meeting a "futile exercise" and asserted that such an "opportunistic alliance" would not yield any result.
Banerjee said, "We have to give the message that we are all together." While details of the discussion were scanty with the leaders preferring to speak on the broader consensus, sources said the two sides used the meeting to figure out how they would proceed in sewing together a workable coalition.
"Nothing is being done for India's development, those ruling are only interested in their own advertisement," claimed Kumar.
“I have made just one request to Nitish Kumar. Jayaprakash ji's movement started from Bihar. If we have an all-party meeting in Bihar, we can then decide where we have to go next. I want BJP to become zero. They have become a big hero with the media's support and lies,” Banerjee said.
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