Mission 2024: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday answered the key question hovering over the United Opposition (if it becomes a reality)- who will be the face of the prime minister candidate?
What Nitish Kumar said on Pawar as PM candidate
When asked if Sharad Pawar will be the main face of the Opposition alliance, Kumar said there will be nothing more delightful than that.
"I have told him (Pawar) that he has to work strongly not only for his party but the entire country," he added.
The more opposition parties come together, the better it is in the interest of the country, Kumar said.
Pawar on question of PM post candidate
"We have to work together and face will be decided later," NCP chief said.
Pawar said, “To save democracy, it is important to work together. After looking at the condition of the country, it seems that if we work together, there will be support for the alternative.”
The NCP chief said BJP will lose Karnataka assembly elections. “As per my info, people there will oust BJP and elect a secular government,” he said.
“Welcomed the Chief Minister of Bihar Shri Nitish Kumar ji and deputy Chief Minister Shri Tejashwi Yadav ji at my Mumbai residence today. We had a brief discussion to strengthen the Opposition unity ahead of the Lok Sabha elections,” Pawar tweeted after meeting Kumar.
The two stalwarts discussed efforts to strengthen opposition unity ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections in Mumbai.
Kumar, who visited Pawar at the latter’s residence in south Mumbai along with deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, told reporters that what the ruling BJP is doing is not in the interest of the country.
Kumar calls for more opposition parties to unite against BJP
If more opposition parties work together and stand united, it will yield a good result while taking on the BJP in the next Lok Sabha polls, Kumar said.
"When everyone fights together, there will be a contest (with BJP). There will be good success (to opposition parties) and the country will head in the right direction," Kumar said.
Kumar said the opposition parties will decide when their next meeting will take place.
"Our objective is the same...to work in the interest of the country,” he said.
"There should be no dispute and everyone should stay united," Kumar added.
Nitish, Tejashwi meet Uddhav in Mumbai
Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav met Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray at the latter's private residence in Mumbai on Thursday. The meeting is being seen as a bid to strengthen the Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
He met his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday in Bhubaneswar. Kumar, who stunned the BJP last year when he snapped ties and stripped it of power, had caught the national imagination with his pitch for a “united opposition” which, he believes, can take on and defeat the BJP in next year's Lok Sabha polls.
(With PTI input)
