United opposition will win 2024 polls with huge majority, says Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

PATNA: Bihar CM and JD(U) de facto leader Nitish Kumar on Sunday said if majority of political parties opposed to the BJP come together, they will win with a "huge majority" in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"I am trying to unite majority of political parties (who are ideologically opposed to the BJP). If they consider my suggestion of unity, he (Narendra Modi) will be defeated. .... I have almost finalised talks with many of them. After sometimes, majority of them (parties) will join hands," he said amidst cheering from the JD(U) workers at the party's plenary session at the S K Memorial Hall here.
Nitish also said the forthcoming grouping of opposition parties would the "main front" instead of the so-called "third front".
"Last time when I was in Delhi, I was asked whether it would be a 'third front'. I asked them where is this third front? ... The new grouping which will be formed next time will be the main front," Nitish said while outlining his move for unity among the regional and opposition parties across the country.
He also cautioned the political parties about the fallout of not getting united.
"If they (parties) do not agree to my suggestions what can I do? Humko Kya? But I will continue to give suggestions to all parties (opposed to the BJP). All will have to pay attention on the issue of unity," Nitish said.
Nitish accuses BJP of betrayal
The CM also accused BJP of working against his party in the 2020 assembly polls despite being in an alliance at that time, leading to the decline in the number of the JD(U) MLAs in the state. “In the last assembly polls, they (BJP) won more seats because of our support and we got less seats because they were tacitly working to defeat us. Did it ever happen before the 2020 polls that we won less seats than the BJP in the state assembly polls? No. We got less seats in the 2020 polls because of the ‘dhandha’ (mischievous game) played by the BJP,” Nitish said. He was referring to the candidates fielded by the erstwhile LJP chief Chirag Paswan against all the JD (U) candidates despite being an NDA partner at the Centre.
He further asked the BJP leaders to recall the tally of both the parties in the 2005 and 2010 assembly elections. “All our MLAs who won the 2020 assembly polls complained to us that they (BJP) tried to defeat them. All our candidates who could not win said they lost due to conspiracy of the BJP people,” Nitish said. Nitish further recalled how he was reluctant to become the chief minister for another term after the poor show of his party in 2020. “I agreed to resume the CM’s responsibility on the BJP's insistence. But no work of Bihar was being done (by the BJP government at the Centre).
Despite our best efforts, no help we were getting,” the CM said while recounting the reasons behind snapping ties with BJP in August this year and rejoining hands with RJD to form Mahagathbandhan government. The plenary session was also addressed by JD (U) national president Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh, its national secretary general K C Tyagi, JD(U) parliamentary board chairman Upendra Kushwaha, party state president Umesh Kushwaha and former JD(U) state presidents Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Bashishtha Narain Singh.