Will unite more parties against BJP: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar after meeting Rahul Gandhi

PATNA: In a major move towards forging unity among the non-BJP opposition parties before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, CM Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Wednesday called on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi.
Nitish and Tejashwi also met Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in a bid to create a common platform to take on BJP and PM Narendra Modi in 2024.
While Rahul described the initiative as "historic", Nitish said they would make all efforts to unite more and more parties across the country against the BJP. Later, Nitish's JD(U) tweeted in Hindi: "Nitish ji will prove to be the architect of opposition unity in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections."
Though the senior leaders of Congress, JD(U) and RJD avoided a direct reply on the question on the leadership issue, Kharge said at the press conference: "The opposition will together protect the Constitution and democracy and unitedly give a new direction to the country."
Nitish recently claimed BJP would be reduced to less than 100 seats in the Lok Sabha in 2024, if opposition parties give a united fight to the saffron party in the next general election.
Will fight upcoming Lok Sabha elections unitedly, says Rahul Gandhi
Nitish said, "We will sit together and work unitedly. This has been decided. .... we will move forward on that basis. All those who agree will sit together and decide the future course of action."
Rahul said the opposition would together develop its vision for the country and present the same before the people as they fight the ongoing ideological battle together. "We held a historic meeting here. A lot of issues were discussed and we decided that we will unite all parties and fight the upcoming polls in a united manner. We have made this decision and all of us will work for this," he told reporters while lauding the efforts of Nitish, Tejashwi and others sitting along with him.
Rahul also said the leaders present at the meeting will work on a common line of thought and asserted that efforts were being made in this regard. "In this battle of ideology, a historic step has been taken today towards the opposition unity. Standing together, we will fight together -- for India," he tweeted and shared his picture with the other leaders.
The leaders also had lunch at Kharge' residence, where JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh, Bihar water resources minister Sanjay Jha, Bihar Congress chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Congress leader Salman Khurshid and RJD's Rajya Sabha member Manoj Jha were also present.
"The purpose of the meeting was to unite all parties. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has been given the task to reach out to (opposition) party leaders. The Congress is also talking to some parties," Akhilesh said.
Nitish broke his alliance with BJP in August last year to form a new government in Bihar with the support of RJD, Congress and Left parties.