Opposition unity 'core' as Nitish and Lalu meet Sonia

New Delhi, Sep 25 (IANS) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad on Sunday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi to discuss matters pertaining to opposition unity.

The two leaders briefed the Congress chief about the initiatives taken to unite the opposition parties against the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

After the meeting, Nitish Kumar, who had met Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Arvind Kejriwal, and Sitaram Yechury on his previous Delhi visit, said: "Talks are on with all like-minded parties and since Congress is into organisational elections, we will take a view on it."

Lalu Prasad said: "The prime agenda is to remove BJP as it has been done in Bihar."

The meeting came soon after several opposition leaders had come together to pay tribute to former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal in Haryana.

At the event in Haryana's Fatehabad, Nitish Kumar gave a call for a "main front", comprising the Congress, to oust the BJP in 2024 parliamentary polls.

NCP's Sharad Pawar, Nitish Kumar and Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal, among several Opposition leaders, shared the dais at the rally organised by the Indian National Lok Dal, and gave a united call to out the BJP government in the Centre.

RJD leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and CPI-M's Yechury also attended the rally to mark the birth anniversary of the INLD founder Devi Lal.

However, the rally organiser INLD and its ally SAD do not share cordial relations with the Congress.

Nitish Kumar, who reiterated that he is not a Prime Minister candidate, said: "There is no question of a third front now and what is needed is the main front of opposition to ensure that BJP loses badly. I will urge all parties including the Congress to come together. My only wish is that we all need to come together at the national level. We need to bring together more parties."

Tejashwi Yadav said Kumar's "fearless" decision to part ways with the BJP would prove to be the last nail in the party's coffin.

"Nitish Kumar had no vested interests, but his only ambition was to uproot the communal forces," he said.

Sukhbir Badal joined the call for like-minded parties to form a united front.

He said his party, along with the Shiv Sena and the JD-U, "are the real NDA as they had founded the alliance".