Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar downplayed the rally organised by Telangana chief minister KCR Rao on Wednesday and called it a ‘party-meeting’.
However, neither Bihar chief minister nor his deputy Tejashwi Yadav attended the rally.
The Bihar CM said he was busy with some other work and did not know about KCR’s rally.
“I didn’t know about a rally being held by KCR (Telangana CM). I was busy with some other work. Those who were invited to his party’s rally must have gone there,” Kumar said on Thursday.
“It was a rally of the party and some people were invited,” he added.
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Former UP chief minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Left leaders Pinarayi Vijayan and D Raja had joined the rally.
Kumar is currently undertaking Samadhan Yatra to different districts to oversee works completed and take stock of pending ones.
Soon after becoming the chief minister of Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Bihar, Kumar had met opposition party leaders in a bid to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“I keep saying. I want nothing for myself. I only have one dream – to see opposition leaders unite and forge ahead. That will benefit the country,” he said and added that the meeting organised by KCR was not a dampener for opposition unity move.
KCR’s rally was seen as the first major step towards a non-Congress opposition front ahead of the 2024 national elections.
Responding on the issue, Bihar’s former deputy chief minister and BJP leader Tarkishore Prasad said the KCR rally is a setback for chief minister Kumar.
“His dream was shattered when Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BSR) chief and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao did not even think it fit to invite Nitish Kumar to his mega rally organised to unite the opposition,” said Prasad.
Prasad said ever since Congress projected Rahul Gandhi as PM candidate and Nitish was open to accepting it, other opposition parties want to form a third front.
“KCR’s rally has dashed Nitish’s ambition of being projected as PM candidate,” he added.
