Purnia: Ahead of the 2024 General Elections, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ascertained that the Bhartiya Janata Party will be restricted to under 100 seats if all the opposition parties, including the Congress, fight the poll unitedly. While addressing a 'Mahagathbandhan' rally in Bihar's Purnia district on Saturday, the JD(U) chief said the Congress will have to take a quick decision in this regard.
"If all the opposition parties, including the Congress, come together and fight the 2024 Lok Sabha polls unitedly, the BJP will be restricted to under 100 seats," he said.
"But the Congress will have to take a quick decision in this regard. If you (Congress) accept my suggestion, we can restrict the BJP to under 100 seats. If you don't, you know what will happen," Kumar said.
"Only goal was to work for unifying the opposition to unseat the BJP from power"
The chief minister claimed his only goal was to work for unifying the opposition to unseat the BJP from power. "I will keep trying to make it a reality. The BJP needs to be wiped out from the entire country," he added.
Accusing the BJP of conspiring to "break the country" by dividing people on religious lines, Kumar said, "They are desperate to rewrite history. People know what they did during the freedom struggle. None of us should forget."
In an apparent dig at the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, he claimed it was an agent of the BJP that was trying to divide the minority votes in the Seemanchal region. "All of you should remain alert about such forces," he said. The chief minister alleged the BJP-led government at the Centre has done nothing for the country or Bihar, other than propaganda.
"What happened to the special status for Bihar? The Center is against the economically weaker sections of the society and that is the reason they were not in favour of the caste-based Census," he alleged.
"They (BJP) will get to know the reality when elections are held for Lok Sabha in 2024, and in Bihar in 2025," he added.
Nitish Kumar on Upendra Kushwaha's resignation
Referring to Upendra Kushwaha's resignation from the Nitish Kumar-led party, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav claimed that the BJP tried to spit the JD(U) to repeat what it did in Maharashtra with the Shiv Sena. "But, the people of Bihar have taught them a lesson. There is an urgent need for opposition unity ahead of the 2024 elections to wipe out the BJP from the country. Seven parties have formed an alliance in Bihar. Similarly, all opposition parties in the country should come together to oust the Narendra Modi-led government," he said.
Yadav alleged that through communal hatred the BJP was trying to divert people's attention from issues such as price rises. He also thanked Kumar for breaking the alliance with the BJP.
Yadav claimed that Bihar got a "zero" in the Union Budget, while all developmental works were being done in "Gujarat only". Dismissing allegations that "jungle raj" has returned to Bihar with the RJD, he said, "it is 'janta raj' that is underway in the state". CPIML(L) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya alleged the BJP was destroying the democratic institutions of the country.
"The BJP's misrule has plunged the country into a deep crisis. The time has come to fight the fascist forces that are trying to disrupt social harmony and integrity of the country by instigating communal passion," he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
