Mumbai: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Deputy Tejashwi Yadav in city to rally opposition

Mumbai: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and NCP leaderSharad Pawar separately in Mumbai on Thursday as part of their efforts to set up a united opposition to the BJP in the next year’s Lok Sabha election.

Kumar later told journalists that if the opposition is united then there is a good chance of defeating the BJP. He said it was in the nation’s interest to have a straight contest.

Kumar: Unity will yield results next year

“The country will then proceed in the right direction,” Nitish said.

If more opposition parties work together and stand united, it will yield results next year, Kumar said.

The Janata Dal (U) leader said opposition parties should leave aside their differences and unite with the aim of defeating the ruling BJP.

“When everyone fights together, there will be a contest [with the BJP]. There will be good success and the country will head in the right direction,” he said.

“Our objective is the same: to work in the interest of the country.”

Kumar had met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.

Kumar’s campaign to bring together opposition parties is significant since it is taking place in the background of the results of the Karnataka assembly elections, which are scheduled to be announced tomorrow. The opposition is in a buoyant mood since almost all exit polls predict that the Congress will emerge as the single largest party.

If the Congress wins, then it is certain to lobby to make Rahul Gandhi the opposition’s prime ministerial candidate.