Bihar CM Nitish Kumar meets Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge; discusses roadmap for opposition unity

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi on Monday. It is their second such meeting in the last one and a half months amid efforts to strengthen Opposition unity to take on the BJP in the 2024 general elections.  Kumar met Kharge and Gandhi at the Congress chief's 10, Rajaji Marg residence 

According to sources, the agenda for building Opposition unity and a potential gathering of Opposition leaders in Patna were addressed at the discussion. Lalan Singh, the leader of the JD(U), and K C Venugopal, the general secretary of the Congress (Organisation), were also present at the meeting,  which came a day after Kumar and Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal called for opposition unity to take on the BJP.

The JD(U) leader met the AAP convenor at his home and offered him "complete support" in their continuing dispute with the Centre regarding the management of administrative services.

In a significant display of opposition unity, Bihar Chief Minister Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah attended Siddaramaiah's sworn-in ceremony as the chief minister of Karnataka on Saturday. Kumar has been meeting Opposition leaders and regional satraps as part of the unity exercise which is yet to take a concrete shape.  

Late last month, Kumar made a hint that when the Karnataka assembly elections were completed, a gathering of opposition leaders may take place in Patna, and that matters linked to forming opposition unity are anticipated to be covered in detail at that meeting.

(With PTI inputs)

• Bihar
• Mallikarjun Kharge
• Nitish Kumar
• Rahul Gandhi
• AAP
• Arvind Kejriwal