A day after he attended the swearing-in ceremony of the new Congress government in Karnataka, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar flew to Delhi on Sunday to meet his Delhi counterpart and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
Nitish’s meeting with Kejriwal comes as the JD(U) leader proclaimed his commitment to strengthening opposition unity for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Nitish was accompanied by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. This is their second meeting with Kejriwal in two months, the first being on April 12.
Interestingly, Kejriwal was not invited to the Karnataka Congress’s swearing-in, seen as a show of strength by the opposition parties. Since AAP has been at logger heads with the Congress in both Delhi and Punjab, Nitish Kumar is said to be trying to build a working relationship between the two parties, as he also sees Congress critical to any Opposition unity bid.
Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar openly expressed his support for the Kejriwal government against Centre bringing an ordinance to create a National Capital Civil Service Authority for transfer and posting of IAS and DANICS cadre officers under the Delhi government.
“How can powers given to an elected government be taken away? It’s against the Constitution. We stand with Arvind Kejriwal. We are trying to bring together all opposition parties in the country,” Nitish Kumar told reporters on his arrival in Delhi.
Kejriwal had already said he would seek support from opposition leaders regarding the ordinance. “Today in a meeting with Nitish Ji, he said that he stands with the people of Delhi on the issue of the Centre bringing an ordinance negating SC order in favour of Delhi. In case the Centre brings this ordinance as a bill, if all non-BJP parties come together, it can be defeated in Rajya Sabha. If such a thing happens, it can send a message that the BJP govt will be out in 2024,” Kejriwal told reporters after his meeting with Nitish.
