Nitish Kumar leaves for Delhi, may meet non-BJP leaders

PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar left for Delhi on Tuesday amid speculation that the JD(U) supremo will meet leaders of non-BJP parties in a bid to forge an alliance to take on the saffron party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

According to party insiders, Kumar is likely to meet RJD boss Lalu Prasad and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

He is also expected to meet Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.

Kumar, on several occasions in the past, advised all opposition parties, including the Congress, to join hands to defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

On the chief minister's visit to Delhi, Bihar BJP chief Samrat Choudhary said, "Kumar's dream to become the prime minister would never fulfil as the people of the country believe in PM Narendra Modi and his leadership. There is no unity among the opposition leaders at all".

However, Kumar had stated several times that he does not have any ambition to become the prime minister.

Kumar had gone to Delhi in September last year when he met leaders such as Sharad Pawar, Arvind Kejriwal, D Raja, Sitaram Yechuri and Akhilesh Yadav.

A ''united front'' would be able to reduce the BJP to less than 100 seats", Kumar had said in February while speaking at the 11th general convention of the CPI(ML-L) which has extended outside support to the Kumar-led Mahagathbandhan government.