In yet another attempt to forge opposition unity to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the top leaders of Congress, JD(U) and RJD met on Wednesday, with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar saying that they will make all efforts to unite more and more parties in the country against the BJP.

Kumar along with his deputy Tejashwi Yadav met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, who described the initiative as “historic”.

The meeting assumes significance as this is the first major step in forging opposition unity and taking it forward ahead of the next Lok Sabha polls despite differences among some regional outfits.

However, to take forward unity efforts, leaders have stressed that they should leave their differences apart and should focus on defeating the BJP and that the leadership issue will be decided after the polls.

The leaders, who jointly addressed a press conference after the meeting, also parried questions on the leadership issue.

The opposition will together protect the Constitution and democracy and unitedly give a new direction to the country, Kharge told reporters.

He also said the opposition would unite to fight all upcoming elections, including assembly elections this year and the Lok Sabha polls next year.

Rahul Gandhi said the opposition will together develop its vision for the country and present the same before the people as they fight the ongoing ideological battle together.

“We held a historic meeting here. A lot of issues were discussed and we decided that we will unite all parties and fight the upcoming polls in a united manner. We have made this decision and all of us will work for this,” Gandhi told reporters while lauding the efforts of Kumar, Yadav and others sitting along with him.

He said the leaders present at the meeting will work on a common line of thought and asserted that efforts were being made in this regard.

“In this battle of ideology, a historic step has been taken today towards the unity of the opposition. Standing together, we will fight together – for India,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi and shared his picture with other leaders.

The JDU tweeted in Hindi, saying, “Nitish ji will prove to be the architect of opposition unity in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.”

Asked how many opposition parties will come together, Gandhi said, “This is a process and we will develop the opposition’s vision for the country and all those parties that will come together with us, we will together fight the ongoing ideological fight in the country.”

“We will unitedly stand against the attack on institutions, the attack on the country,” he said.

Kharge also said, “We held a historic meeting here. A lot of issues were discussed and we decided that we will unite all parties and fight all the upcoming polls in a united manner. We have made this decision and all of us will work on this path.”

In his remarks, the Bihar chief minister, who broke the alliance with the BJP in August last year, said, “We will make all efforts to unite more and more parties in the country. We will make all efforts, sit together, and work unitedly, this has been decided.”

“After today’s discussions, we will move forward on that basis. All those who agree will sit together and decide the future course of action,” he said.

In a tweet in Hindi, Kharge said, “Will preserve the Constitution and save democracy. Rahul Gandhi ji and we met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ji, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav ji and other leaders, reiterated our resolve to raise the voice of the people together and give a new direction to the country.”

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Meanwhile, Union minister and senior BJP leader Anurag Thakur alleged that the alliance of the parties “drowned in the quagmire of corruption is actually a thugbandhan” (alliance of corrupts).

“These gimmicks will not hide their corruption. The public is denying them again and again. In 2014 and 2019, they formed a ‘thugbandhan’ here, but the result was the same, as people have rejected corrupt parties and formed the government with absolute majority twice under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi,” he said.

The leaders also had lunch at Kharge’s residence, where JDU president Lalan Singh, Bihar Congress chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Congress leader Salman Khurshid and RJD leader Manoj Jha were also present.

“The purpose of the meeting was to unite all parties. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has been given the special task to reach out to (Opposition) party leaders. The Congress is also talking to some parties,” Bihar Congress chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh said after the meeting.

Kumar and Tejashwi also met Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.

After the meeting, Kejriwal lauded Kumar’s efforts to bring together opposition parties and pledged his support.

According to sources, the Congress chief would be meeting top leaders of various Opposition parties in the coming few days.

They said, the opposition has plans to put forward one common candidate to defeat the BJP to upstage them from power at the Centre, but some have expressed reservations over such a proposal as some parties have aspirations to contest the maximum number of seats.

The Congress also is not inclined to restrict itself to around 200 seats and wants to contest more seats, claiming that it is a national player unlike many regional outfits and has a presence across the country.

It has also contended that it is the only party that can directly take on the BJP due to its national footprint.

The Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress are in a coalition government in Bihar and the three parties are in talks to bring other opposition parties together on a common platform in their fight against the BJP.

Kumar arrived here on Tuesday and is expected to meet a slew of opposition leaders during his stay in the national capital.

Tejashwi Yadav is also in Delhi as he appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the alleged land-for-jobs scam.

Kharge has spoken to several opposition leaders including M K Stalin and Uddhav Thackeray recently, in an attempt to forge unity among like-minded parties to take on the BJP. He is likely to hold discussions with other top opposition leaders in the coming days.

Around 20 opposition parties have recently presented a united face in the just-concluded budget session of Parliament over the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification and forced a near washout of the session amid continued disruptions over the issues raised.