On Who Will Be The Face Against PM Modi In 2024, Nitish Kumar's Response

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar today on his mission to unite the opposition ahead of the 2024 national elections. The chief of Janata Dal United, who ended ties with the BJP last month, has been in the national capital since Monday with a long list of leaders he wanted to meet.

After Congress's Rahul Gandhi and Janata Dal Secular's HD Kumaraswamy, he met CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja, Indian National Lok Dal's Om Prakash Chautala and Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav. Earlier this morning, he also met CPIML general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, who is also an ally in the state.

He also has a couple of courtesy meetings slated for this evening -- President Droupadi Murmu and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar.

"I will not be the leader, I will try to unite (the Opposition). The BJP is trying to capture the country. If everyone fights the elections together, then the picture will be different, we are talking to all the people," he told reporters after the meeting.

"We will build a main front, not a Third Front," Mr Kumar reiterated durinng an interaction with reporters in the evening. Declaring that his talks with Opposition leaders will be positive, he said the 2024 general elections will be "very good". "It has been a one-sided contest so far".

Asked who will be the Opposition face against PM Modi in 2024, Mr Kumar said, "You see the work they have done. They have just advertised, changed names. In terms of work, not much to write home about".

"I have no personal choice. My only wish is that everyone should meet. Together we will choose our leader," he also said.

Sources said Mr Kumar's plan for now is impressing on the opposition the need to put up a united front against the BJP. This is essential in view of the lack of cohesiveness that the opposition had displayed ahead of the elections in 2019.

State-level rivalries had dominated, keeping apart parties like the Congress, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party and the Left -- despite much effort from Sharad Pawar and Ms Banerjee.

There was no consensus either on who would be the face to project against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Several leaders are seen as possible faces -- including Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and despite his assertions to the contrary, Nitish Kumar.

In an interview yesterday after his meeting with Mr Kumar, CPM's Sitaram Yechury said such decisions can be taken after the elections.

Pointing to the various alliances formed over the last three decades, he said even the UPA and the NDA coalitions took shape after the elections.

Asked about a Common Minimum Programme, he had said it can be formed after the government formation.

"It will happen. First, the BJP has to be separated from holding the reins of the power. Parties are doing it and they will do it together subsequently," Mr Yechury had told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

"The basic point is that the issues are for the people and not the leaders. What's (Congress's) Bharat Jodo Yatra about? What's the AAP's Make India Number One campaign about? To unify the country against the destruction of the Constitution. These issues cement the unity," he had added.