Nitish’s opposition unity efforts aimed at hogging headlines, not working on ground: BJP’s Sushil Modi

PTI, Jun 1, 2023, 6:31 PM IST

Senior BJP leader and MP Sushil Modi took a swipe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ahead of opposition parties’ meeting in Patna on June 12, saying his efforts are merely aimed at keeping him in headlines as the balloon of their unity exercise has already been punctured. Kumar, the face of the Janata Dal (United), may organise any number of meetings of opposition parties, but it is clear that his unity exercise is not working on the ground, he said. Modi noted that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee got the lone Congress MLA in the state inducted into her party recently and was accused by Jairam Ramesh of being a B-team of the BJP. The Congress has been asked by its Punjab and Delhi leaders to have no truck with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), he added, pointing out that the main opposition party and the BSP also ruled out any support to the Samajwadi Party in the recent MLC polls in Uttar Pradesh.

”The balloon of opposition units efforts has been punctured by the likes of Banerjee and (Congress president) Mallikarjun Kharge. Kumar may keep trying as much as he can, it is clear that the opposition unity is impractical. He had long been out of headlines and now he is doing all this to remain in media,” Modi told PTI.

Kejriwal wanted to meet Kharge and Rahul Gandhi to seek support on the Delhi ordinance issue, but Gandhi went to the US without meeting him, the BJP leader said, highlighting the conflicts in the opposition ranks.

”Kumar may organise as many meetings as he wants, but will the Left and the Congress join hands in Kerala, or the AAP and the Congress in Delhi, or the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Congress in Telangana,” the former Bihar chief minister asked, asserting that no regional party will cede any space to the main opposition party as it poses existential threat to them.