Nitish Kumar calls for unity of all Opposition parties, including Congress

Nitish said there was no question of a Third Front now and what is needed is the "main front of Opposition"

The INLD rally to celebrate late Devi Lal's birth anniversary on Sunday became a platform for the display of Opposition unity with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar calling for a "main front" of all non-BJP parties, including the Congress, at the national level against the BJP which he said can defeat the saffron party in 2024.

Nitish's call for the inclusion of the Congress came even as the main Opposition party, with which the rally organiser INLD was not particularly friendly, was absent along with some other parties like the CPI which were not invited.

The rally held at Haryana's Fatehabad also saw the presence of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, Akali Dal chief Sukbhir Badal, RJD leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant, who came in for Uddhav Thackeray who could not attend it, among others.

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While Tejashwi said the NDA has now ceased to exist with BJP allies like Shiv Sena, Akali Dal and JD(U) leaving the alliance to save democracy, Badal felt that the time has come for like-minded parties to form a new coalition.

Addressing the rally, Nitish said he is not a Prime Minister candidate, adding that there was no question of a Third Front now and what is needed is the "main front of opposition" to ensure that BJP "loses badly".

"I will urge all parties including Congress to come together and then they will lose badly in 2024 Lok Sabha polls...My only wish is that we all need to come together at the national level... We need to bring together more parties," Nitish said.

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Echoing Nitish, Pawar said the time has come for everyone to work towards ensuring change of BJP government in 2024. He listed the "anti-farmer" decisions of the government, including the now repealed three farm laws, and alleged that the government was not providing the promised MSP to farmers or withdrawing cases registered against them.

Tejashwi hit out at the BJP, accusing the BJP of making false claims and promises while describing it as "Badka Jhuta Party" (big lying party). He alleged that Home Minister Amit Shah spoke about the airport in Bihar's Purnia though there was no facility there during a recent public meeting there.

Badal said his party along with the Shiv Sena and the JD(U) are the "real NDA" as they had founded the alliance. He said the alliance was formed when BJP was relatively a weaker force.

"The real NDA is sitting here, it was founded by Shiv Sena, Akali Dal and JD(U). We stood by BJP when it was a relatively smaller party. But now it is time to forge an alliance for farmers and labourers," Badal said.