The state of Bihar on Thursday witnessed a poster war a day before 17 opposition parties are scheduled to meet to discuss the timeline and the roadmap for the approaching 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The controversy arose after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chapter in Delhi displayed a poster calling for unity among the opposition while the chapter in Bihar referred to Nitish Kumar as the BJP’s ‘B team.’
The Mahagathbandhan administration, led by Nitish Kumar, is all set to host the opposition parties in Patna for the Unity conference scheduled on Friday. Notably, this is the first gathering of opposition parties to send a message of cooperation before the general elections of 2024.
Arvind Kejriwal was pictured on the poster, which was displayed throughout Patna’s streets, as a potential candidate for prime minister in the 2024 elections. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s picture was put up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling him an alternate team of BJP. “There is neither expectation, nor trust. The citizens of India should be alert. This is Nitish Kumar, a close aide of PM Modi,” the poster read.
Following this, the BJP mocked the opposition by calling them “Thugs of India” in a new poster. The poster featured images of opposition political leaders, including MK Stalin, Tejashvi Yadav, Rahul Gandhi, Uddhav Thackeray, Mamata Banerjee, and Nitish Kumar. The poster had an inscription that said, “The grand meeting of the parties engrossed in dynasty politics and corruption.”
Reportedly, the AAP has also declared that it would walk out of Friday’s meeting of opposition leaders if the Congress does not promise its support against the Centre’s ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi.
Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, had expressed optimism that the Congress would clarify its position on the Center’s ordinance regarding the management of administrative services in the national capital during the non-BJP parties’ meeting in Patna on Tuesday.
With all the commotion surrounding the opposition meeting in Patna, former deputy chief minister Sushil Modi attacked Nitish Kumar and declared that they would both fall on their faces since they were together not for the good of the nation but for their selfish interests.
“Three to four Opposition leaders want to become PM and no one cares about India. Nitish Kumar has failed in Bihar and he will fail again to unite the Opposition. Nothing will come out of this meeting as this is ‘Chai Bhoj’ and ‘Litti Chokha’ meet. Let them enjoy Bihar food. Some are deeply fallen in the pits of Parivarvaad and some in pits of corruption,” Sushil Modi was quoted as saying.
As per the reports, posters from the Samajwadi Party that feature the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav call for resolving to “free India from the BJP to end unemployment, violence, and price rise.”
Posters for the state’s ruling coalition include images of MK Stalin, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Mamata Banerjee, his equivalent in West Bengal, and Sharad Pawar, the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party.
The BJP meanwhile has displayed posters honouring socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) at the party’s headquarters and significant locations including the Patna airport.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has separately distanced itself from several Nitish Kumar-targeting posters that have appeared in its name. Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, is depicted on one side of the posters, and Modi and Nitish Kumar are depicted on the other, with the statement “Beware!!! This is Nitish, Narendra Modi’s friend.”
The posters, according to AAP spokeswoman Bablu Prakash, are an attempt to discredit the party and cause confusion. Later, the Patna Municipal Corporation began taking down these posters.
