'Vast majority' of opposition parties to meet soon: Congress after Nitish meets Kharge

New Delhi: Efforts to forge unity in the opposition ranks gained momentum on Monday with the Congress asserting that a ”vast majority” of non-BJP parties will meet soon, after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met its president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi.

Congress general secretary (organisation) K C venugopal told reporters that the venue and date of the expected meeting will be announced in a day or two.

In a tweet, Kharge said, ”The country will be united now. The strength of democracy is our message. Rahul Gandhi and myself discussed the current political situation with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today and took forward the process of giving a new direction to the country.” Kumar was accompanied by his Janata Dal (United) president Lalan Singh.

After holding meeting with Kharge last month, Kumar has met leaders of a host of regional parties in his bid to bring them together on one platform with the Congress to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The JD(U) leaders had met AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday at his residence here and extended ”complete support” to him in the ongoing face-off with the Centre over the control of administrative services. Significantly, Bihar Chief Minister Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah attended the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka chief minister on Saturday, in a show of opposition unity.

Some regional leaders, including Kejriwal and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, were not invited to the ceremony. Kumar, though, has been trying to bring them on board as well.