Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren confirmed after a 30-minute meeting in Ranchi on Wednesday evening that a “united Opposition” will take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

“We all are seeing attempts being made to change the history of the country and create rifts in society. They (read the BJP) are bent on creating bina matlab ka vivad (unnecessary controversies) in society. So we are trying to unite political forces and you will see the result in the next Lok Sabha polls,” said Nitish.

Nitish, accompanied by Bihar deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, arrived in Ranchi around 5.15pm on Wednesday and went straight to hold a meeting with Soren.

Addressing the media after the meeting, Nitish said:“We are trying to unite Opposition parties to safeguard the interest of the state and the country.

“We had a good discussion with Hemant Soren. I have a long relationship with his father Shibu Soren. How can I forget that I became chief minister of Bihar for the first time (in 2000) with his help.”

Taking a dig indirectly at the BJP for suppressing Opposition voices in the media, Nitish said: “We all know even the media is not allowed to work freely. There is only one party which dominates the media nowadays and there is only one person’s (read Prime Minister Narendra Modi) views being aired.”

Jharkhand chief minister, on his part, termed Nitish as their “guardian”.

“We respect Nitish Kumarji as our guardian and we have to learn several things from his experience. For the sake of maintaining the state’s identity and rights and for the betterment of the country, we are trying to bring all Opposition parties on a common platform.

“We will be holding further discussions on this issue soon and bring consensus on different political parties’ views,” said Soren.

Political observers feel that with this development, decks have been cleared for Janata Dal United becoming a part of the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance in Jharkhand for the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.

Nitish Kumar met Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday and is likely to meet former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday.

Nitish Kumar has already met Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Left leaders to forge an Opposition alliance before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.