India
oi-Deepika S
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on a mission to unite opposition parties against the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, met his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday.
Kejriwal was among the few non-BJP chief ministers who were not invited by the Congress to the event, which was also seen as a show of strength by opposition parties.
“Today, in a meeting with Nitish Ji, he said that he stands with the people of Delhi, on the issue of the Centre bringing an ordinance negating SC order in favour of Delhi. In case the Centre brings this ordinance as a bill, if all non-BJP parties come together it can be defeated in Rajya Sabha. If such a thing happens, it can send a message that the BJP govt will be out in 2024,” said Kejriwal in a joint briefing with Nitish Kumar.
Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar backed Kejriwal over Modi government decision bringing an ordinance negating SC order in favour of Delhi.
“How can powers given to an elected government be taken away? It’s against the Constitution. We stand with Arvind Kejriwal. We are trying to bring together all opposition parties in the country,” said Nitish Kumar.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was also present at the meeting. This is the second meeting between Kumar and Kejriwal in over a month.
With Kejriwal’s relations with the Congress far from smooth, Kumar has the task of building some kind of a working relationship between the two as he also sees the grand old party as critical to any Opposition unity bid.
The AAP has grown in Delhi and Punjab by occupying the space once largely seen as Congress territory.
