'BJP can be bundled out for 50 seats in 2024 Lok Sabha polls if...': Nitish Kumar

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also blamed JD(U)'s drubbing in the 2020 assembly polls on the "BJP's conspiracy".

File photo Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (Credits: ANI)

New Delhi: Days after pulling the plug on the alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday (September 3, 2022) asserted that a united opposition will trounce his former ally in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Kumar, while addressing a meeting of the state executive of his JD(U), said that the saffron party will be "bundled out for about 50 seats" if all opposition parties "fight together".

The veteran leader also blamed JD(U)'s drubbing in the 2020 Bihar assembly polls on the "BJP's conspiracy" and recalled his own reluctance to continue for another term in office.

"If all (opposition) parties fight together, the BJP will be bundled out for about 50 seats. I am devoting myself to that drive (abhiyan)", he said.

प्रदेश जदयू के राज्य कार्यकारिणी की बैठक को संबोधित करते हुए माननीय मुख्यमंत्री श्री नीतीश कुमार जी ने कहा कि 2024 चुनाव में भाजपा 50 सीटों पर आ जाएगी, अगर सभी विपक्षी दल मिलकर चुनाव लड़ें और मैं इसी अभियान में लगा हुआ हूंl pic.twitter.com/eaMm31gXLA — Janata Dal (United) (@Jduonline) September 3, 2022

Kumar, who had been a BJP ally for nearly three decades, also had a word of caution for his party workers in Bihar following the break up.

"The BJP will try to disturb social and communal harmony in the state. We must foil their designs by keeping vigil to the level of panchayats," he said.

'Is it constitutional?': Nitish Kumar after five JD(U) MLAs in Manipur join BJP

Expressing outrage after five of the six JD(U) MLAs in Manipur joined the BJP, Nitish Kumar questioned the propriety and constitutionality of the alleged poaching by the saffron party.

"Is it proper? Is it constitutional? Is it in line with established norms? They are doing so everywhere. Hence all parties must unite in 2024 for a positive mandate," he said. 

"When we were in NDA, they (BJP) gave our MLAs nothing. Now they have been won over," Kumar said, in what appeared to be a reference to horse-trading.

The Manipur JD(U) MLAs switched sides around a month after Nitish Kumar ended his alliance with the BJP and formed a fresh government in Bihar with Mahagathbandhan comprising RJD, Congress, HAM and Left parties.

Kumar stated that the party's Manipur MLAs had confirmed their presence at the meeting, and had earlier backed JD(U)'s decision to quit the NDA.

Nitish Kumar to be in Delhi next week for opposition unity

The Bihar Chief Minister is scheduled to leave for Delhi on September 5 to meet political leaders from various affiliations in a bid to forge opposition unity. According to senior JD(U) leaders, Kumar is expected to meet senior leaders of the Congress during his two-day visit to the national capital.

The JD(U) leader, whose party wants him to play a "national role" after having been the longest serving chief minister of Bihar, is also expected to interact with his Delhi counterpart and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal.

(With agency inputs)