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Last Update: May 10, 2023, 23:58 IST
We will oppose the Centre’s attempts to change history. We will also restore Hindu-Muslim unity. (File Photo/PTI)
Kumar, along with his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, held discussions with Soren at Soren’s residence here for about an hour.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday met his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and said their talks focused on building a “united opposition” to defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Kumar, along with his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, held discussions with Soren at Soren’s residence here for about an hour.
Kumar told reporters after the meeting, “Our talks focused on building a united opposition and the outcome of the discussion will be reflected in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections… We talked about the country’s politics and will work together for development.”
He also wondered whether BJP leaders had any contribution in the freedom struggle of the country.
“We will oppose the Centre’s attempts to change history. We will also restore Hindu-Muslim unity.
“Attempts are being made to change the history of the country… Controversy has been created… The freedom you (media persons) used to get earlier is not there now,” he said. No development is happening,” the JD(U) leader said.
Stating that Bihar has close ties with Jharkhand, he said that visits of political leaders to each other’s states were less due to the COVID-19 pandemic and would increase now.
Notably, Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000.
In his brief address to the media, Soren said the two chief ministers discussed the “political situation in the country and the role of the opposition”.
“We, like-minded people, will sit together to strategize for the future and reach a consensus soon. Our guardian (Nitish Kumar) is with us. We are the new generation of politicians who will learn a lot from his experience and want to protect the unity of the country.
Soren later said in a tweet, “The current and future political scenario was discussed with the Chief Minister of Bihar. Respecting regional sentiments, the country has to be taken on the path of development, in which everyone including tribals, dalits, backward and minorities participate.”
BJP’s Jharkhand unit president Deepak Prakash alleged that Kumar’s visit showed that he was power-hungry and had succumbed to corrupt people. The man (Kumar), who claims to be a follower of Jayaprakash Narayan, first shook hands with Lalu Prasad’s family, which was linked to the fodder scam. He is now trying to forge an alliance with the corrupt Soren’s JMM.” The meeting is being seen as part of Kumar’s efforts to bring all non-NDA parties together to defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Is.
The Bihar CM, who parted ways with the BJP last year vowing to defeat it in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, visited several places and met various political leaders as part of his “opposition unity campaign”.
Kumar on Tuesday met Odisha Chief Minister and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik at his residence in Bhubaneswar and held discussions with him for over an hour.
Recently, he had also talked to West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamta Banerjee and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav.
Kumar and Yadav had met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi in April in the presence of Rahul Gandhi and promised to bring together all opposition parties against the BJP.
The JD(U) leader also held a meeting with NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, among others.
Kumar has been maintaining that he had “no prime ministerial ambitions”, but said he hoped to play a “positive” role in building opposition unity against the ruling NDA at the Centre.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
