Nitish Kumar has denied prime ministerial ambitions and declared that his only agenda is to form an Opposition alliance to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, just as another Bihari -- under whose umbrella Nitishbabu stepped into the world of politics -- did 45 years ago against another authoritarian leader.
After walking out of his alliance with the BJP some weeks ago, Nitishbabu is in the nation capital this week, meeting with leaders across the political spectrum. Last week in Patna, he had met Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, a leader who has clear prime ministerial ambitions.
Can Nitishbabu create an anti-BJP phalanx like Jayaprakash Narayan did in 1977 or will his efforts come undone by Opposition leaders' political ambitions and, of course, the BJP's agency-aided campaign of intimidation?
We will have to wait and see. Meanwhile, here are glimpses from Nitishbabu's political yatra:
IMAGE: Nitish Kumar calls on President Droupadi Murmu, September 7, 2022. Photograph: PTI Photo
IMAGE: Nitish calls on Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, September 7, 2022. Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: Nitish Kumar and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi, September 6, 2022.
Kejriwal is said to be wary of Nitishbabu's political cunning. Photograph: PTI Photo
IMAGE: Can the ambitious Kejriwal ever agree to be just a part of an Opposition front? Surely, he will want to lead such a grouping. Photograph: PTI Photo
IMAGE: Nitish with Indian National Lok Dal supremo Om Parkash Chautala, centre, in Gurugram.
Leader from 28 political parties will gather in Chandigarh on September 25 to mark former prime minister Chaudhary Devi Lal's 107th birth anniversary.
'Nitish Kumar, Farooq Abdullah, Parkash Singh Badal, Mulayam Singh Yadav, H D Deve Gowda and N Chandrababu Naidu will attend the Samman Diwas,' says Chautala, Devi Lal's 87-year-old son. Photograph: PTI Photo
IMAGE: Before he flew to New Delhi, Nitish met Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Yadav in Patna. Photograph: ANI Photo/Tejashwi Yadav Twitter
IMAGE: Nitish with Lalu, former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and their younger son Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav. Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: Nitish assists the ailing Lalu. Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: Nitish arrives in New Delhi for his meetings with Opposition leaders. Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: Unlike Mamata Banerjee and K Chandrasekhar Rao, Nitish is said to enjoy a good equation with Rahul Gandhi and his mother, interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Photograph: PTI Photo
IMAGE: Nitish with Janata Dal-Secular leader and former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, centre. Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: Nitish and Kumaraswamy, second from left, will hope they can sew up a Congress-JD-S alliance to take on the BJP in next year's Karnataka assembly election. Photograph: ANI Photo
Nitish with Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury. Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: Nitish with Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav. Photograph: ANI Photo
IMAGE: Nitish with Dipankar Bhattacharya, general secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). Photograph: ANI Photo/Dipankar Bhattacharya Twitter
Photographs curated by Anant Salvi/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
