Bihar CM Nitish Kumar met Dhubri MP Badruddin Ajmal on Friday amid speculation that the JD (U) stalwart was reaching out to All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) as part of his goal of uniting non-BJP parties before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
MP Ajmal was joined by his four party members namely Sonai constituency MLA Karim Uddin Barbhuiya, Mankachar MLA Aminul Islam and Dhubri MLA Nazrul Haque.
A day earlier, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday met Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray at Matoshree in Mumbai.
Ahead of their visit for a meeting with Uddhav Thackeray and NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, hoardings welcoming Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav had been put out in Mumbai.
Nitish Kumar has been meeting leaders of various opposition parties as part of his efforts to cobble up a grand Opposition alliance to oust BJP at the Centre ahead of next year's Lok Sabha elections.
It has also come to light that the JD (U) stalwart Nitish Kumar is planning a big meeting of all Opposition Leaders in Delhi on May 18.
Meanwhile, reacting over the meeting of the two political leaders in Patna, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Bora told the media, “There is a discussion going on over the grand Opposition alliance, but, mostly importantly, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is not going to decide APCC’s stand on the alliance, it will be decided by Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. All India Congress Party Communication Head Jairam Ramesh has already issued a public statement against AIUDF terming it a traitor’s party. Around 11 political parties including Congress has jointly decided to part our ways from forming any kind of alliance with BJP or any of its agent. The decision was taken at Hotel Lily in the presence of Congress General Secretary, AICC In-Charge of Assam Jitendra Singh Alwar.”
Borah also informed that in the meeting Jitendra Singh has clearly termed AIUDF as most unreliable political party.
“Any political leader can meet our Congress leader, that doesn’t mean the party is coming into an alliance. Nitish Kumar has been meeting several leaders from the last couple of months; he is in talks with various political parties including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). But, Congress is yet to sit in talks with AAP as it will be decided following consultation with Delhi Congress and Punjab Congress. Similarly, AICC will take the final call on AIUDF after consulting APCC,” added Bhupen Borah.
APCC also claimed that Congress is currently ruling in three states and soon it will be four. In next three months, he claimed to conquer seven more states including the Karnataka after the recently concluded assembly elections.
“Who will take the leadership of the Grand Alliance? Nitish Kumar is a senior political leader; he is the chief minister of a state and has met our Congress leaders as well. We have nothing to comment on this, but, APCC is not running the party with CM Nitish Kumar’s backing, we are running the party with the backing of Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, etc,” added Borah further.