As Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday met a series of Opposition leaders to explore the possibility of ties before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he brushed aside speculation of him being the Prime Ministerial candidate, saying that “I am not even a claimant, I don’t even desire it.”
While addressing the media after meeting leaders cutting across the party lines in the national capital, Nitish said, “We have discussed that if the Left parties, regional parties in different states, and Congress come together then it will be a huge thing.”
Nitish on Tuesday met CPM leader Sitaram Yechury at his office here. “We are together, that is why I am coming here”, said Nitish on meeting Yechury. “We have discussed that if the Left parties, regional parties in different states, and Congress come together then it will be a huge thing.”
Nitish met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the national capital on Monday and discussed the strategy for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the possibility of bringing like-minded parties together.
According to Congress sources, Nitish, who met Gandhi for the first time since his reunification with the Mahagathbandhan, of which Congress is a part in Bihar, expressed gratitude to the Wayanad MP for his party’s support to his government. The sources also said that both the parties will continue their “concrete discussions” in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.
The Bihar Chief Minister also met former Karnataka CM and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy during his visit to Delhi.
The meetings came amid the buzz that Kumar is attempting to project himself as the prime ministerial candidate in 2024. However, he cleared the air on the matter.Kumar, once again in Delhi, called for opposition unity and ruled out harbouring prime ministerial aspirations.
The meeting of Kumar with opposition leaders comes days after Telangana Chief Minister KC Rao visited Bihar and held discussions on the political scenario in the country.
However, during KCR’s one-day visit, he avoided giving a direct response to a question about whether Nitish Kumar will run as the opposition’s candidate for Prime Minister, saying that the opposition parties would meet and make that decision.While talking to the media during his visit to Bihar, KCR was asked whether Bihar CM Nitish Kumar will be the next PM candidate for the opposition. However, mocking at Nitish’s sojourn in New Delhi, former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi said that the state’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is on a political tour in the national capital while the people of Bihar have been facing a flood.
