Nitish After Meeting J’khand CM Hemant Soren

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday met his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren here and said their talks centred around forming a “united opposition” to defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Kumar along with his deputy Tejashwi Yadav held a discussion with Soren for around one hour at the latter’s residence here.

“Our talks centred around forming a united opposition and the result of the discussion will be visible in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections…We talked about the country’s politics and will work together for development,” Kumar told reporters after the meeting.

He also wondered whether BJP leaders had any contribution to the country’s freedom fight.

“We will oppose attempts by the Centre to make changes in history. We will also restore Hindu-Muslim unity.

“Attempts are there to change the country’s history…controversy has been created…The freedom you (media people) used to enjoy earlier is not there now. No development is taking place,” the JD(U) leader said.

Stating that Bihar enjoyed a close relationship with Jharkhand, he said visits by political leaders to each other’s states were less due to the COVID-19 pandemic and would now increase.

Notably, Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000.

In his brief address to the media, Soren said the two CMs discussed about the “political situation in the country and the role of the opposition”.

“We, the people with the same ideology, will sit together to chalk out a future strategy and soon arrive at a consensus. Our guardian (Nitish Kumar) is with us. We are new generation politicians who will learn much from his experience and want to protect the unity of the country,” Soren said.

Later in a tweet, Soren said, “There was a discussion on the present and future political scenario with Bihar CM. Respecting regional sentiments, the country has to be taken on the path of development to be participated by all, including tribals, Dalits, backwards and minorities.”

BJP’s Jharkhand unit president Deepak Prakash alleged that “Kumar’s visit shows they are hungry for power and he knelt before those who are corrupt. The person (Kumar), who claims to be a follower of Jayaprakash Narayan, first joined hands with the family of Lalu Prasad who was associated with a fodder scam. He is now trying to ally with corrupt Soren’s JMM.” The meeting is seen as part of Kumar’s efforts to bring all non-NDA parties together to defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

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”.

Kumar on Tuesday called on Odisha Chief Minister and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik at his residence in Bhubaneswar and held a discussion with him for more than an hour.

Recently, he also held talks with West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav.

Kumar and Yadav had in April met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi in the presence of Rahul Gandhi and pledged to bring 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.

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.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)