New Delhi: In an effort to unite opposition parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in Kolkata on Monday. After a closed-door meeting of the three leaders, Mamata said she wanted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to be reduced to “zero”. Talking to the media, she said that she wants to give ‘a message’ that we are all ‘united’.
In a joint press conference with Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav, Mamta Banerjee said, “We will go together. We have no individual ego, we want to work collectively.”
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief also said that the only request he has made to Nitish Kumar is to convene an all-party meeting in Bihar.
“I want the BJP to be reduced to zero. They have become bigger heroes with media support and lies,” she said.
In the press conference, Nitish described his meeting with Mamata at the state secretariat ‘Nabanna’ as ‘positive’.
“It was a very positive discussion…Opposition parties need to sit together and strategize,” he said.
The JD(U) chief also hit out at the BJP and said they were only doing their own propaganda.
“Those who are ruling now have nothing to do. They are just promoting themselves. Nothing is being done for the development of the country,” he said.
In the last few months, Mamata Banerjee has held several meetings with several non-BJP and non-Congress leaders on the issue of opposition unity against the saffron party in the 2024 general elections.
Early last month, he met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav during which both the leaders agreed to maintain distance with Congress and focus on unity of regional forces against BJP in 2024 elections.
Immediately after meeting Akhilesh, Mamta went to Odisha and met CM Naveen Patnaik.
After this he also met former Karnataka CM and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy in Kolkata.
Last week, the TMC supremo also called up MK Stalin, his counterpart in Tamil Nadu, and discussed the unity of opposition forces against the role of governors in opposition-ruled states in the country.
In the recent past, Banerjee has emphasized in all her public meetings that if the opposition unites before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it is possible to bring an end to the BJP-led rule. However, she has always avoided the thorny issue of whether the Congress is part of her blueprint for a united opposition against the BJP.
Earlier this month, Nitish had also met Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi. He had a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to discuss opposition unity and left out party leaders D Raja and Sitaram Yechury.