Amid speculations about his prime ministerial ambitions, Bihar Chief minister Nitish Kumar once again reiterated that there is no discussion on the topic as he met top opposition leaders in New Delhi on Tuesday.
On the second day of his three-day Delhi visit, the Janata Dal (United) leader met with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor and Delhi Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Kumar also met left leaders Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and D Raja of the Communist Party of India.
Kumar also met former Haryana chief minister and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Om Prakash Chautala. He also went to Gurugram, where he met Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav. He also met former JD (U) chief Sharad Yadav at his residence.
Replying to a question posed by The New Indian, on being the prime ministerial candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Kumar said, “There wasn’t any discussion in this regard.” “I am not the PM candidate,” he added.
Following his meeting with veteran CPI (M) leader Yechury in the morning, Kumar said, “It is high time to unite all the opposition parties. The Left, Congress and all the regional parties should form a united opposition.”
“I have a strong association with left parties. When I used to come to Delhi, I would come to this office. We all have to be united,” he said.
Yechury, meanwhile, said that it is a welcome sign that Nitish has come to the opposition fold. “We have to strengthen our democracy and republic. From our side, we said we have been saying the same thing for several years,” said the senior leader.
On the question of whether he was eyeing the PM candidature, Kumar said he had not claimed to be the PM candidate and he had no such desire. “First we have to unite, and when the time comes, we will decide (on a PM candidate),” Yechury said.
Kumar then went to meet CPI general secretary Raja at their party office in ITO, Delhi. At about 1.25 pm, he reached Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s residence at Civil Lines. Both the leaders spent an hour and a half.
After the meeting, Kumar did not speak with the media. Kejriwal, however, tweeted, stating that he was thankful to Nitish Kumar for meeting with him. “We discussed the issues – health, education, Operation Lotus, breaking parties by offering money by the BJP, inflation, corruption and unemployment,” Kejriwal tweeted.
Nitish later went on to meet with ailing SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram. Before this meeting, he went to meet INLD leader OP Chautala in a flat in Gurugram.
Kumar is on a three-day visit to the national capital with the aim of uniting the opposition ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. On Monday, Kumar met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy.