Akhilesh Yadav meets Nitish Kumar on Opposition unity issue

Ramping up efforts to forge Opposition unity, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday met Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav who extended support to the JD(U) leader in his "campaign" aimed at removing the BJP from power in the next general election.

Kumar said talks are on to unite as many parties as possible and they will sit together and decide on the leader, adding that he is not looking for anything for himself and will work for the country's good.

No welfare work is being done by the present dispensation which is only relying on publicity, the Bihar chief minister said attacking the BJP after meeting Yadav at the SP office here, hours after he held talks with his West Bengal counterpart and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata.

Also Read | Nitish-Mamata meeting: 'Opposition parties need to strategise together'

Backing Kumar's views, Akhilesh Yadav alleged that due to the "wrong economic policies" of the BJP, the poor are suffering and price rise and unemployment are "at an all-time high".

"The BJP should be removed and the country be saved, and we are with you in this campaign," the SP chief said.

Asked if any decision has been taken on who will lead the joint front, Kumar said, "No, once the unity takes place, the leader will be decided. And whosoever becomes the leader will work in the interest of the country."

"And, one thing I would like to tell you about myself. I don't want to be (the leader). Know this very well that I am uniting everyone. I don't want anything for myself. I will work in the interest of the country. There will be other people as well, and we will sit and decide," the JD(U) leader, who was accompanied by RJD leader and Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, told reporters.

He alleged that efforts were being made to change the country's history and people should be informed about what was happening.

"Keeping everything in mind, talks are already on with everyone. Talks were held today as well. At this point, I would only say that we should unite with as many parties and contest the next (Lok Sabha) election.

"If we fight unitedly, it will be very good and in the interest of the country. Talks have been held with this point of view," Kumar said.

The Bihar chief minister had come to Lucknow after meeting Banerjee in Kolkata earlier in the day.

"We have decided to unite more and more parties in the country, and we will work together, so that the country moves forward, and the entire country gets rid of the BJP," Kumar said.

The two regional satraps too stressed the need to "prepare together" for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"It was a very positive discussion... Opposition parties need to sit together and strategise," said Kumar after the meeting at the state secretariat Nabanna in Kolkata.

Banerjee asked Kumar to set up a meeting of all opposition parties in his home state to "prepare together" for the next Lok Sabha polls in 2024.

The BJP dubbed the meeting a "futile exercise" and asserted that such an "opportunistic alliance" would not yield any result.

Banerjee said, "We have to give the message that we are all together."

“I have made just one request to Nitish Kumar. Jayaprakash ji's movement started from Bihar. If we have an all-party meeting in Bihar, we can then decide where we have to go next. I want BJP to become zero. They have become a big hero with the media's support and lies,” she said.

To a question about whether he will become the next 'JP', the Bihar Chief Minister said in Lucknow, "No. I have been his student, and have been under his leadership."

Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad as student leaders of Patna university were part of the JP's "Sampoorn Kranti" (total revolution) in the mid-70s which had resulted in the formation of the Janata Party government in 1977 after the Congress' defeat.

On the 80 Lok Sabha seats of UP and 40 of Bihar, the JD-U leader said, "We will contest together, and you will see that the results would be very good. And those who are thinking that they will harass people in different manners so that they could rule, such things will not happen."

Asked whether he will meet BSP chief Mayawati, Nitish Kumar said, "At present, I have come to meet him (Akhilesh Yadav)."