Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said all opposition parties in the country have decided to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together, adding that next meeting will be held in Shimla to decide the future plan of action.
It was stated by the Bihar Chief Minister while addressing a joint press conference along with the top leaders of the opposition parties after the conclusion of the mega opposition parties’ meet in Patna.
Nitish Kumar said: “Every opposition party leader has put their points in the meeting and unanimously decided to work together and fight the election with unity. Another meeting will be held in the next few days to decide the future plan of action. The next meeting will take place under the chairmanship of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Shimla where we will take the final decision.”
“We will decide in the meeting who will contest the election from which place. We would short out problems if any arise in future,” Nitish Kumar said.
“Those who are in power are not working in the interest of the country. They are changing the history and freedom struggle of the country. We are concerned about it and hence decided to unite together,” he added.
During the meeting, Nitish Kumar was projected as the national convenor of the opposition alliance and every leader agreed to it.
The leaders of the opposition parties, after the mega meeting here, jointly held the press conference where they said that they also decided to hold another meeting in Shimla on July 10 or 12 to decide the seats on which they would contest in the Lok Sabha election.
Kharge said: “We will meet again in July in Shimla to prepare an agenda on how to move ahead together while working in our respective states to fight BJP in 2024.”
He said at the joint press conference in the presence of other opposition leaders including West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and RJD national President Lalu Prasad and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said all the opposition forces stand united in the fight against the BJP.
Speaking to reporters after the mega opposition unity meeting here, Rahul Gandhi said: “BJP and RSS are attacking the foundation, institutions, and people’s voice in the country. It is a fight for ideology. I raised this point in today’s meeting as well. We all stand united. We may have small differences, but we have decided to work together with flexibility and we will protect the ideology we share.”
NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that his party has been working against the party of Uddhav Thackeray-Shiv Sena in Maharashtra for the last 25 years but now come together to save the Constitution and the country.
The West Bengal Chief Minister said: “The people’s movement started from the soil of Patna. We will fight together. The Modi government has become a dictatorship in the country. The BJP and the RSS are attacking the democratic base of our country. This is a fight of ideology and we are standing by the opposition parties to fight against the BJP. We will work together and save our common ideology.”
RJD national president Lalu Prasad said: “I am fully fit now. I will fight Narendra Modi and the BJP. The leaders have put forward their perspectives at the meeting today. We have decided to meet in Shimla for the next meeting.”
“We will decide the next course of action there. We have to fight unitedly. People of the country are saying that we are not getting united and the BJP-RRS is taking advantage of that and winning elections. But it will not happen this time as we will fight together.”
Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said: “Gandhi abroad and Godse in India formula will not work for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.”
Addressing reporters in Patna after the conclusion of the opposition meeting,Yechury said: “Our Constitution is under attack and we all unite to save it. We have to save the fabric of our republic which is under severe attack. Also, Gandhi abroad, Godse in India will not work for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
The Opposition meeting was called by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar, which was attended by leaders of parties opposed to the BJP. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, Congress party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, MP Sanjay Raut, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
The opposition meeting was held with an aim to arrive at a consensus to forge a united opposition front to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The meeting had been called by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar and was attended by leaders of the parties opposed to the BJP.