Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, accompanied by his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, on Thursday met Shiv Sena-UBT President and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar and state Congress .
With the countdown to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on, all major Opposition parties, including the regional forces, are bracing for a big political battle to oust the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, and a situation akin to 1996 emerging not .
The nation expects the prime minister to lead from the front under these extraordinary circumstances. He is still the leader the nation looks up to. The weird idea of his silence in times of turbulence is harming both the nation and the BJP. If the nation could erupt in “taali-thali” on his call, an appeal from him can certainly have a calming effect on the seething crowds.
President Ram Nath Kovind’s term ends in July and it is not yet clear whether the BJP intends to give him another term. The Opposition is also keen to put up a contest even as the electoral college is favourable to the ruling party. The best course is to elect the President by consensus but that’s a utopian demand given the deeply fractured Indian polity.