Pawar-Nitish meet next week fuels talk of Oppn unity

Days after announcing that he is not in the running for any office given his age, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, 82, will meet Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the national capital on Sep 8.

This will be the first meeting between the two senior opposition figures after Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) ended its alliance with the BJP in Bihar and formed a government with the Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Amid a growing buzz within the party about Bihar's longest-serving Chief Minister seeking a national role now as the opposition's prime ministerial face, Nitish Kumar is set to visit New Delhi next week to set in motion his plan to bring the non-BJP parties together.

At the JD-U’s two-day national executive meeting at the Karpoori Thakur Bhawan in Patna which started on Saturday, Nitish Kumar said he would meet top opposition leaders, including interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi, during his stay in the national capital.

The Chief Minister has been exuding confidence that a united opposition could prevent the BJP from returning to power for a third successive term in the general election due in 2024.

At his meeting with Pawar, the veterans are expected to discuss the country’s political scenario and the various options to bring like-minded opposition parties together against the BJP.

Nitish Kumar has often deflected questions about his national ambitions. After taking the oath of office in Bihar at the head of a mahagathbandhan government, he even said he did not aspire to be the prime ministerial candidate of the Opposition in 2024.

However, Nitish Kumar did say he would play a role in uniting the Opposition against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

The meeting with Pawar is also important because the NCP chief recently had a lengthy meeting with Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about a possible alliance of opposition parties against the BJP.

Pawar also announced last week that he would be involved in putting up a credible alternative to the BJP. Nitish Kumar also clarified, “I say this with folded hands, I have no thoughts [of becoming the PM candidate]. My job is to work for everyone. I will make an effort to see that all the Opposition parties work together. If they do, it will be good.”

Pawar and Nitish Kumar share a good rapport with each other and also have cordial relations with most political parties. The duo share the quality of never treating any political party as an untouchable and maintaining regular dialogue with all, whether in or out of power.

Both have also repeatedly criticised the BJP-led government for the use of central probe agencies against political opponents.

NCP sources in Maharashtra told The Free Press Journal, “Pawar and Nitish Kumar, with their relations across parties, can mobilise the Opposition to take on the BJP. Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, despite losing power in Maharashtra, recently made a strong case for the Opposition joining hands against the BJP.”

Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav has also said Nitish Kumar could emerge as a "strong candidate” for the Prime Minister’s post if opposition parties agree to consider him for the job.

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Published on: Saturday, September 03, 2022, 11:15 PM IST