US Senator Bernie Sanders suspended his presidential campaign on Wednesday, clearing the way for rival Joe Biden to win the Democratic nomination and challenge incumbent Donald Trump in November.

Sanders told supporters in a livestream that he is dropping out and said, “I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful”.

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“Vice president Biden will be the nominee,” Sander further added.

“I congratulate Joe Biden, a very decent man, who I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward.”

Sanders, who challenged Hillary Clinton for the party’s nomination in 2016, mounted a formidable challenge to Biden in the 2020 race, becoming the frontrunner early this year and earning the most votes in the first three state-wide contests.

Bernie Sanders is the second Democratic presidential nominee after Senator Elizabeth Warren to speak against the violence over the Citizenship Amendment Act in New Delhi. Apart from the Democratic presidential candidate, US House Foreign Affairs Committee too expressed concern over the developments.

In February, Sanders held a narrow lead among the Democratic contenders. “I think he’s a communist,” said Trump, for whom name-calling and character smearing are an integral part of his campaign for re-election in November this year.

Sanders ran an intense, issue-driven campaign, bringing his liberal ideological platform — including a call for universal health care and a $15 hourly minimum wage — into the mainstream.

“Together we have transformed American consciousness as to what kind of nation we can become, and have taken this country a major step forward in the never-ending struggle for economic justice, social justice, racial justice, and environmental justice,” Sanders added.

Taking to Twitter, Biden thanked Sanders and hailing him as “a good man, a great leader, and one of the most powerful voices for change in our country.”

Biden is currently leading the Democratic primary in a one-on-one battle with Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont for the party’s nomination to challenge sitting President Donald Trump, a Republican.

Sanders is the oldest candidate vying to take on President Donald Trump, 73, and is third in the Democratic nominee polls behind Joe Biden, 76, and Elizabeth Warren, 70.