Many Opposition leaders are more experienced than PM Modi, says Tejashwi Yadav

Several Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar will be attending a key meeting of the Opposition parties in Patna on Friday.

Patna (Bihar): Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday said that many leaders in the Opposition were more experienced than Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is also expecting a fruitful outcome from the meeting of the Opposition parties that will take place in Patna on June 23 (Friday).

"This is a great step. Since (Bihar Chief Minister) Nitish Kumar and I have come together, we have tried to get as many opposition parties together as possible. Nobody can deny the fact that there are so many leaders in opposition who are much more experienced than Prime Minister Narendra Modi," said Tejashwi Yadav, who is the leader of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Leaders including Rahul Gandhi (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Akhilesh Yadav (SP), Hemant Soren (JMM), Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Sharad Pawar (NCP), MK Stalin (DMK), Arvind Kejriwal (AAP), D Raja (CPI), Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) and Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPI-ML) will attend the Opposition meet.

The meeting has been convened by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to mobilise the opposition against Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. "I believe that the meeting will be fruitful. The elections are not related to one person. People of the country believe that elections should be fought on issues, which they are facing. All the leaders will put forward their opinion in this meeting about different issues, and their agenda," added 33-year-old Tejashwi, son of former Union Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.

The Bihar Deputy CM also brushed aside claims made by some BJP leaders that the Opposition parties were coming together as they were scared of PM Modi. "We're not scared (of Prime Minister Narendra Modi). Why would we fight separately when our goal is the same? We are like-minded parties. Even the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) was an alliance of so many parties, so did they also form such a big alliance out of fear? These are baseless claims," the RJD leader said.

He also took a jibe at the Narendra Modi-led government saying there was an "undeclared emergency" in the country.