"Historic" Is The Buzzword As Rahul Gandhi Meets Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav In Bid To Forge Opposition Unity

Leaders from the Congress, Janata Dal (United), and Rashtriya Janata Dal convened a meeting in Delhi with the aim of forming a strong opposition front for the 2024 general election, to challenge the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav attended the meeting, held in Delhi, along with Congress and JD(U) party presidents Mallikarjun Kharge and Rajiv Ranjan Singh, respectively, RJD's Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Manoj Kumar Jha, and Congress leader Salman Khursheed.

Kharge called the meeting a "historic" one, with the intention to unite all opposition parties for the polls.

Gandhi, too, called the convergence of opposition parties a "historic step" that would form their vision for the country.

The Bihar Chief Minister said the idea is to try and unite as many parties as possible.

Kumar had called on RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav ahead of the meeting.

Kharge earlier spoke to former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M K Stalin.

"We will protect the Constitution and save the country," the Congress president tweeted in Hindi.

Opposition parties seek new strategies to challenge the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Initially, the Trinamool Congress planned to contest the Lok Sabha election independently.

But Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as an MP, due to his conviction in a criminal defamation case, seems to have prompted Mamata Banerjee to urge opposition parties to unite and remove the BJP from power.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has yet to take a firm stance on joining a political alliance.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's party, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, seems keen on an opposition front, but without the Congress.