In an effort to forge Opposition unity against the BJP-led government at the Centre, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is set to hold crucial meetings with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday.
Kumar is expected to meet his West Bengal counterpart Banerjee around 2 pm in the afternoon at the state secretariat ‘Nabanna’ in Kolkata. Bihar Chief Minister’s deputy, Tejashwi Yadav will accompany him during the visit, sources said.
Initially, sources from the state secretariat had said that the meeting was supposed to happen on Tuesday at Banerjee’s residence Kalighat in South Kolkata.
“However, later it was conveyed to us that Nitish Kumar will arrive in Kolkata on Monday only for a few hours and instead of the Chief Minister’s residence, the meeting will take place at the state secretariat of Nabanna,” a state government official said.
The two leaders will be holding a closed-door meeting to strategise on fighting the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, they added.
After his brief Kolkata visit, Nitish Kumar is then scheduled to rush to Lucknow, where is supposed to meet Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Both Mamata Banerjee and Nitish Kumar have been quite active to unite the opposition against the BJP for the 2024 polls. However, there has been a basic difference in the approach of both leaders on this count.
On one hand, Banerjee’s scheme of things does not involve the largest Opposition Congress, the same is not the approach for Nitish Kumar.
Last month, Banerjee held similar meetings with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik. This was followed by a visit to Kolkata by Janata Dal (Secular) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy during which he met Banerjee.
Last week, Banerjee also called up her counterpart in Tamil Nadu M.K. Stalin and discussed the unity of opposition forces against the role of Governors in the state
After meeting Mamata, Akhilesh Yadav agreed to maintain a distance with Congress and rather focus on the unity of the regional forces against the BJP in 2024.
On the other hand, in his endeavour to unite the opposition ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Bihar Chief Minister also met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and its president Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi earlier this month.
(With IANS inputs)
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