Ahead of Sonia-Nitish meet, Congress indication to allies

New Delhi, Sep 12 (IANS) Ahead of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and former CM Lalu Prasad Yadav's meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, the party has said that a strong Congress will be more effective for opposition unity and the allies should understand it.

The Congress, which had taken a backseat till now on the issue, along with Nitish Kumar, TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee along with Sharad Pawar, has taken the lead.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh responding to a questions said that, "opposition unity does not mean that Congress should be weak and our allies should understand that they will not allow Congress to weaken and a strong Congress will be the pillar in opposition unity." He said that Rahul Gandhi's yatra is for strengthening the Congress and if the opposition gets united it is good.

Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav has claimed that Nitish Kumar and RJD president Lalu Prasad will together go to Delhi to meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

The remark came as Sharad Pawar on Sunday backed opposition unity while his party said that he is not in the race for the PM's post.

"Sonia Gandhi is currently outside the country. As soon as she returns to New Delhi, the two leaders will meet her in a bid to unite the opposition parties for the 2024 Lok Sabha election," Tejashwi said.

Earlier, Nitish Kumar went to the national capital to meet the opposition leaders but as Sonia Gandhi was not in India he was unable to meet her. However, Nitish Kumar met Rahul Gandhi at that time.

Kumar met scores of political leaders including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, CPI-M Secretary General Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The purpose of Nitish Kumar's visit was opposition unity. Before reaching New Delhi, Kumar had met RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav and TRS Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao. Nitish officially denied any prime ministerial ambition but the political commentators feel that the target is the PM's chair. However the biggest obstacle is the Congress which is maintaining that being the biggest political formation it should be the fulcrum of any alliance. Sources in the Congress say that the Nitish Kumar situation is evolving and we are watching how it unfolds.

Rahul Gandhi on Friday addressing a press conference in Nagercoil said that "opposition unity is a good thing" and it's the responsibility of other opposition parties to fight the BJP. Nitish Kumar had a nearly one-hour meeting with Rahul Gandhi on the issue.