Nitish Kumar Mumbai visit: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar along with his Deputy Tejashwi Yadav met Uddhav Thackeray, president of Shiv Sena- Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) at 'Matoshree' in Mumbai. The meeting is as part of his efforts to bring all non-NDA parties together to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The meeting between Thackeray and Nitish Kumar assumed political significance as the latter had held a discussion with Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, and West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee.
Bihar CM schedule:
At around 2:00 pm, CM Kumar will meet NCP Chief Sharad Pawar at his 'Silver Oak' residence.
Motive of meeting:
The Bihar CM, who snapped ties with the BJP last year, vowing to defeat it in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, has toured many places and met political leaders of various hues as part of his “opposition unity drive”. Recently, he held talks with several political party leaders including- Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav.
Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav had in April met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi in the presence of Rahul Gandhi and pledged to take all opposition parties together for a united front against the BJP. The JD(U) leader, also held meetings with NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury among others.
Nitish Kumar has been maintaining that he had no prime ministerial ambitions but said he was looking forward to play a positive role in forging opposition unity against the ruling NDA at the Centre.
Sanjay Raut on Bihar CM Mumbai visit:
"Bihar CM Nitish Kumar will come to Mumbai on May 11 and meet Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshri. Uddhav Thackeray is in support of Nitish Kumar's efforts to bring all opposition leaders in the country together," said Uddhav Thackeray faction MP Sanjay Raut.
Sharad Pawar on Nitish Kumar Mumbai visit:
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Monday (May 8) said he would meet Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during the latter's visit to Mumbai on May 11, adding their outlook is that the country needs an "alternative" to the current BJP-led government.
Pawar, who on Friday revoked his decision to quit as NCP chief, was speaking to reporters in Solapur before heading to Nipani in Karnataka where he will hold a rally for his party candidate in the Assembly polls to be held in the neighbouring state on May 10.
Asked about a possible meeting with Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Pawar said, “I have received a message that Nitish Kumar will visit Mumbai on May 11. We will meet, though I do not have all the details with me. Our outlook is that an alternative (to the BJP government) is needed in the country.”
“Those who wish to contribute to it, be it Nitish or Mamata (West Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress leader), in my view we all need to work together for the same,” the NCP chief said.
The Lok Sabha polls in the country are due next year. Pawar also said there were no discussion on Lok Sabha seat sharing in Maharashtra with his political allies Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress (the three parties are constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi).
“The Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders will sit together and then discuss a seat sharing formula. There is no point in making any claim on a particular Lok Sabha seat before such meetings,” he said.
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