Bihar leaders claim Oppn unity will 'collapse' like Bhagalpur bridge

Patna, June 8 Ahead of the opposition leaders' meeting scheduled in Patna on June 23, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) MP Chirag Paswan claimed on Thursday that the 'so-called' opposition unity will crumble just like the Aguwani-Sultanganj bridge in Bihar's Bhagalpur district that collapsed last Sunday.

"They (opposition parties) might assemble at one place and do photo-ops, but their unity is not possible. We are watching such an opposition unity since 2014. They do photo-ops while holding hands, but nothing happens at the time of elections. The same will happen in next year's Lok Sabha elections," Paswan said.

"The ambitiona of these opposition leaders are so high that Chief Ministers of different states are projecting themselves as the Prime Ministerial face. Evevn the Chief Minister of Bihar (Nitish Kumar) will not be accepted by the leaders of the opposition parties. When the people of Bihar do not accept him as the Chief Minister, how can the leaders of the opposition parties do that," he added.

Bihar BJP spokesperson Arvind Kumar Singh said: "The leaders of the Mahagathbandhan have lost their political ground due to massive corruption and hence they are just doing show-off of opposition unity. The foundation of Bihar government is based on corruption and Nitish Kumar is trying to save his image by holding opposition unity meetings.

"How could opposition unity be possible when Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee and the Congress cannot come together on one platform. It is also not clear as to who will be the PM face of the opposition. The bigger parties like the Congress will not accept Nitish Kumar or Mamata Banerjee to lead the opposition."

"Opposition unity will also crumble like the bridge that collapsed in Bhagalpur district on Sunday," he added.

When contacted, JD-U spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said: "BJP was in alliance with JD-U in Bihar and they know what its status was. When we asked them to sit, they sat down. When we asked them to stand up, they stood up.