The chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, and his ally Lalu Yadav will meet Sonia Gandhi soon, according to Tejashwi Yadav, who made the announcement on Monday as the opposition tried to unite against the BJP in advance of the 2024 elections.
Once madam Sonia ji is back, then a meeting would happen. Both of them (Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav) would go together,” the Bihar deputy chief minister said.
During his visit to Delhi last week, Kumar met with a number of opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal. For a medical check-up, Sonia Gandhi is in abroad.
Last week, Kumar had stated, “We want to be the primary front, not the third front.” He had also spoken with Mulayam Singh Yadav, the founder of the Samajwadi Party, and as a result, a banner with the message “UP + Bihar = Gayi Modi Sarkar” was spotted at the SP headquarters in Lucknow, implying that the alliance would reduce the influence of the BJP.
Tejashwi Yadav also poked fun at those who have criticised the Grand Alliance’s pledge to provide 20 lakh employment for young people in his most recent remarks.
Those who don’t believe this need to wait and watch. It will certainly happen. I won’t comment on whatever someone says,” he said.
“We are in the government and this is our commitment. This will definitely happen,” he added.
The Nitish Kumar-Tejashwi Yadav government has come under fire for its job promises after the BJP, and now poll strategist Prashant Kishor has joined the fray. Kishor had expressed questions about the coalition’s effectiveness last week as the Bihar CM said that “it’s possible he wants to support the BJP.” Kishor responded, “Let’s wait for a year and see.”