Foes with benefits

Nitish Kumar's supporters feel he could bring together unlikely allies to form a joint front to take on the BJP

- SONI MISHRA

On April 12, when Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar walked into the 10, Rajaji Marg residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi to discuss ways to bring opposition parties together, it marked the end of a long wait for the seasoned politician.

Nitish had been waiting for the Congress to respond to his proposal that he could help bring opposition parties together to form an alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Ever since he had severed ties with the National Democratic Alliance on August 9, 2022 and formed the mahagathbandhan government with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress, the veteran leader had been expecting a call from the Congress.

Since 2015, when the mahagathbandhan had registered a stunning victory over the BJP in Bihar despite the saffron party riding high on the triumph of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Nitish has been keen on a similar alliance at the national level. He had suggested that he could help in reaching out to regional leaders, but the Congress was unwilling to cede space to regional forces. Similarly, most regional parties were not comfortable doing business with the principal opposition party. Nitish had subsequently returned to the NDA fold.

More recently, after the formation of the mahagathbandhan government in Bihar last year, Nitish met Congress president Sonia Gandhi along with RJD’s founding leader Lalu Prasad. He had in that meeting taken up the need to bring together the opposition. It was conveyed to him that he would have to discuss the issue with the new party chief. Kharge, however, was tied up with the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the preparations for the Congress plenary session.