Give us good wishes, says West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee ahead of Opposition meet in Patna

TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a meeting with JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, in Patna. Pic/PTI

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said that she expected a good outcome at the meeting from the Opposition meet being held at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's residence in Patna today, reported news agency ANI.

"Give us good wishes," Mamata Banerjee told reporters as she left Patna Circuit House, where is staying to attend the meeting hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, reported ANI.

The aim of the meeting is to arrive at a consensus to forge a united Opposition front to take on the BJP in the 2024 general elections.

On Thursday, the West Bengal Chief Minister had said that the Opposition leaders will fight together "like a family" to take on the NDA "one to one".

Mamata Banerjee who arrived in Patna a day before had called on Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) patriarch and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav and his son and state deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav.

"It was wonderful to meet Lalu Prasad Yadavji. He is a senior leader. Unfortunately, he was in jail for so many days and then was hospitalised for a long time. It was good to see him. I cannot share the details of the meeting right now. All I can say is that we are here to fight collectively, like a family," she said.

The Opposition picked Patna as a venue for its meeting as it represents the 1974 call of total revolution by Jayaprakash Narayan that toppled Indira Gandhi's majority government.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party's leader Akhilesh Yadav, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar, People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and others are among those participating in the meeting.

The meeting is being hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab's Bhagwant Mann, Tamil Nadu's M K Stalin, Jharkhand's Hemant Soren, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, Maharashtra's former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, and NCP president Sharad Pawar are among the leaders attending the first high-level Opposition meeting.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI)