Nitish and Lalu meet with Sonia and ask the Oppn to work together to beat BJP.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad met with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday. More than five years had passed since the last time the three had communicated.

Prasad made a statement following the meeting, “Since the Congress has been at the vanguard of opposition to the BJP, no coalition can function without it.

The Bihar leaders also said that talks would continue and that the next round would be held after the election of the new Congress president in order to incorporate the new Congress president in the opposition’s plans for the general election of 2024.

“We discussed the importance of the opposition coming together to defeat the BJP in the 2024 election, and we met with Sonia Gandhi. The RJD chief said that she assured him that they will have another conversation after the upcoming presidential elections in Congress.

After Gandhi returned to India from her medical checkup abroad, the three reunited. Before the beginning of this month, Kumar visited Delhi to talk to opposition leaders on the crucial topic of opposition unity, and one of those he talked with was Rahul Gandhi.

People with knowledge of the situation say that the meeting of the Congress, Janata Dal (United), and RJD on Sunday marked the final chapter in a political circle. It was also the first time the three parties had met since 2017, when Kumar severed connections with the Congress and the RJD in Bihar and formed a coalition administration with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Kumar made the following comment after the meeting: “All of the opposition parties need to work together to defeat the BJP. The vote for the next president of Congress has begun. Sonia Gandhi asked for a reunion after the election.

Earlier in the day, INLD leader Om Prakash Chautala had a meeting in Haryana for members of the party. Kumar made the claim at the meeting that united opposition will ensure the BJP’s election loss in 2024.

We can defeat the BJP, which is working to ruin the country, with the help of all parties that are not the BJP, Kumar said. The Congress, the ILND’s fiercest rival in Haryana, decided not to attend the meeting. However, key opposition groups including the Akali Dal, NCP, RJD, CPI(M), and the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena did.

Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav also made an appearance, signalling possible cooperation between non-BJP parties. However, Congress failed to send any delegates to the meeting.

A while later, Yechury penned, “The BJP will not be allowed to destroy India and its values without consequence. It thinks it can further its goals by stirring up hostility among the general public. Despite their dire outlook, the People will prevail.