PATNA: Chief minister Nitish Kumar will visit Tamil Nadu on June 20 along with some of his cabinet and JD-U colleagues to attend a function as part of the birth centenary celebrations of late DMK leader and former chief minister M Karunanidhi, said a senior party functionary on Sunday.
According to the party functionary, Kumar will return on June 21 and then attend the June 23 meeting in Patna, in which leaders from different non-BJP political parties will participate. The meeting is likely to be held at the CM’s residence to maintain confidentiality.
The party leader said that Nitish would also inaugurate ‘Kalaignar Kottam’, built in memory of Karunanidhi at his native town Tiruvarur.
Kalaignar Is the nickname of Karunanidhi.
It will also be an occasion to underline the importance of opposition unity against the BJP-led Union government for which Kumar has been striving. Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin will also attend the June 23 meeting in Patna.
In Tamil Nadu, a year-long celebration of former CM M Karunanidhi’s’100 birth anniversary has been planned. Kumar had also attended the big opposition gathering on Karunanidhi’s 94th birthday in 2017. Stalin has also been striving for a united Opposition to take on the BJP in 2024.
“The fact that Kumar will inaugurate the ‘Kalaignar Kottam’ shows the importance Stalin has attached to the JD-U leader’s initiative to unite the non-BJP opposition parties. Stalin has been himself trying for a united Opposition fight and reached out to non-BJP parties and he invited Kumar for the event,” said the JD-U leader.
Kumar has been reaching out to several non-BJP parties and evoked positive response from all of them for preparing a level-playing field amongst the Opposition by burying differences over political turf in their respective areas of strength. He cancelled the earlier date of the meeting on June 12 just to ensure that all parties were together to sort out their differences with an open mind and did not hesitate in making some sacrifices and adjustments to overcome the disadvantages of turf war
Last month, he had met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi to discuss broad Opposition strategy and prepare the ground for the upcoming meeting, which revolved around the need for balancing state-level compulsions and national-level priorities.
This was the second meeting in as many months between Kharge and Kumar, who has spoken to a number of leaders, including West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Delhi CM, and AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) leader Arvind Kejriwal, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Shiv Sena (Udhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Udhav Thackeray and leaders of the left parties. From Kashmir, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti have also given their consent to attend the meeting.
