"Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are always together." Nitish Kumar said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's round one of talks with two opposition leaders most outspoken against the Congress, drew a score of Perfect 10 today. Both Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav have agreed in principle about the need to stop the BJP and the unity and cohesiveness needed to bring it about.
With Ms Banerjee, the leader known for her fiery temperament, Mr Kumar reached an understanding that there is "no ego clash" and no issues "if thought, vision, and mission are clear". With Akhilesh Yadav, he invoked the 'old school tie' of the JP Movement.
While opening the press conference, Akhilesh Yadav was emphatic. "I'm with you in this endeavour to oust the BJP (from power) and save the nation," said the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, flanked by Mr Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav.
"Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are always together... We are Samajwadis. We share a history," Mr Kumar said at the press conference, sitting next to Akhilesh Yadav. Mr Yadav's late father Mulayam Singh Yadav had cut his political teeth on the Samajwadi movement along with Mr Kumar and his ally and Rashtriya Janata Dal patriarch Lalu Yadav.
"You should understand that we are making an effort to change history... We have decided that we will bring together as many parties as possible and work for the country," he added.
Lucknow was Mr Kumar's second stop after Kolkata, where he had extensive discussions with Mamata Banerjee this morning.
"We will go ahead together. We have no personal ego. We want to work together collectively," Ms Banerjee had said after the meeting.
Her caveat though was that the message of unity should come from Bihar, where "Jayaprakash (Narayan) ji's movement started".
"If we have an all-party meeting in Bihar, we can decide where to go next. But first of all, we must convey that we are united," Ms Banerjee had said. The JP movement, which had started as a protest against the misrule in Bihar, had later turned against the Congress's central government led by India Gandhi.
Mr Kumar, who had allied with the Congress at the state level not once, but twice, looked delighted.
The Bihar Chief Minister had taken on the task of bringing on board leaders antagonistic to Congress after a meeting with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi earlier this month.
After a lifetime of confrontation with the Congress, the Janata Dal United chief has partnered with the party not once, but twice, at the state level. Over the last years, he has also made no bones about admitting that any opposition front without the Grand Old Party cannot hope to push the BJP out of power.
He has already brought on board Arvind Kejriwal, one of the most vocal critics of the Congress. After their meeting on April 13, the Delhi Chief Minister has announced that he was "completely with" Mr Kumar and that it was "extremely necessary" for the opposition to "come together and change the government at the Centre".