Contrary to Reports, Nitish Kumar Not ‘Unhappy’ With Opposition Conclave in Bengaluru

Patna: Amid reports of ‘unhappiness’ of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after the second Opposition meeting in Bengaluru, his party Janata Dal (United) (JD-U) said ‘he was not unhappy.’

Later, Nitish Kumar himself denied reports that he was 'unhappy' and made it clear that everything decided in Bengaluru was right.

Kumar told the media that he had no wish to become convenor of the Opposition alliance. "My only aim is to unite the Opposition to defeat the BJP," he said after inaugurating the Malmas Mela at Rajgrih in Nalanda district.

On Wednesday, JD-U national president Lalan Singh told the media here that Kumar was not at all unhappy. "Reports of the unhappiness of Kumar are false, and a part of rumour spread deliberately. It is far from the truth. There is no such thing. Such reports were cooked and created in the media. We strongly feel that BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) top leaders are scared of Opposition unity, and they are spreading such rumours," Singh said.

Singh said in recent days, one after another, several such propaganda were being carried out. It was reported that JD-U is on the verge of split or break, followed by growing differences between JD-U and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), two major allies of ruling Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. "Now reports are being spread that Kumar is unhappy. It is part of the same propaganda,” he added.

Singh, considered close to Kumar, widely seen as a de facto chief of JD-U, said he (Kumar) is a "sutradhar" (narrator) of the Opposition unity alliance 'INDIA,' (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) and will continue. (Kumar opposition unity alliance INDIA ke sutradhar hai aur rahenge).

Singh has made it clear that the name of the Opposition alliance INDIA was finalised with the agreement of all leaders in the meeting.

Contrary to reports that Kumar is unhappy over not being named as convenor of Opposition unity, Singh said that this issue was not discussed so far and is likely to be discussed in the next meeting in Mumbai. “Whatever will be decided will be informed at the proper time,” he said.

Singh stated that BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were desperate. “Look how desperate they are now. It resulted in the first meeting of NDA's (National Democratic Alliance) allies. We (JD-U) were part of NDA for five years from 2017 to August 2022; Modi never held any meeting of NDA or hardly addressed allies of NDA as he did on July 18,” he said.

Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav have also not made any comments after arriving here.

On Tuesday, soon after the Opposition meeting ended in Bengaluru, Kumar, along with RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his younger son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, left the venue without addressing a joint press conference that led to confusion and triggered speculation about the unhappiness of Kumar. Taking this as a chance, top BJP leaders repeatedly claimed that Kumar was unhappy for not being named convenor and disagrees with the name of the Opposition unity alliance --INDIA.

 The first Opposition meeting was held at Patna on June 23. It was the result of the active role played by Kumar, who has been engaging with national and regional party leaders to strengthen Opposition unity for the past few months. Kumar has repeatedly said that he is uninterested in any post and categorically denied that he was in the race for the PM post.

 Leaders of the BJP, which is the Opposition party in Bihar, and its allies, meanwhile, launched a direct attack against the opposition unity move last month. They claimed that the meeting would be unsuccessful in its objective of uniting the Opposition to defeat Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections