In public display of affection at an event in Patna, Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday exchanged quick love notes, with either side waiting for the other’s proposal to form a united front against BJP in 2024.
“What you want is what the Congress also wants. Sometimes a problem occurs in love too. Who will say I love you first? Agree that opposition unity should happen soon,” Khurshid said.
Earlier in the day, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar urged the Congress that now that Bharat Jodo Yatra has concluded the grand old party should take the lead in uniting the Opposition to take on BJP.
Addressing a convention organised by the CPI(ML) Liberation in Patna, the JDU chief said, “The Congress should not delay uniting the opposition. We are waiting. We went to Delhi and met Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.”
“This is an appeal to the Congress leadership through you,” Nitish Kumar told Khurshid.
Nitish Kumar further claimed that if the opposition unites then the BJP will be restricted to below 100 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“In 2024, all opposition parties will have to fight unitedly, only then BJP will be wiped out,” he said.
Some slogans of Nitish as PM were raised at the event, to which the Bihar CM said that he had no such ambitions. “I have asked them to refrain from raising such slogans. I have no such intensions.”
CPI(ML) Liberation is a part of the multi-party Mahagathbandhan but supports the Nitish Kumar government in the state from outside.
Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren were also present at the convention.
“Congress should allow regional parties to come in the driving seat. Where there is a direct contest with the BJP, the Congress should fight there. Congress should not delay now,” Tejashwi Yadav said.
The three-day CPI(ML) Liberation party Congress, which was inaugurated on Thursday in Patna, will conclude on Saturday.