The Congress president said he and other partners maintained silence to keep the INDIA bloc intact.
Mallikarjun Khadke (ANI Photo/Mohd Zakir)
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said here on Sunday that he knew Janata Dal (United) President Nitish Kumar would snap ties with the INDIA bloc but did not say anything to keep the Opposition alliance intact as it would send out a wrong message.
In his first reaction to Kumar’s resignation as chief minister of Bihar, the Congress chief said, “Earlier, he and us were fighting together. When I talked to Lalu ji and Tejashwi ji, they said Nitish was going. If he wanted to stay, he would have stayed. We already knew this but did not say anything to keep the INDIA alliance intact. If we had said anything about it, it would have sent out a wrong message,”
Kharge, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha said in a veiled attack on Kumar, “There are many who can fit into the ‘Aaya Ram-Gaya Ram’ mould.”
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Notably, the Congress claimed on Saturday that Mallikarjun Kharge tried to talk to Kumar several times but could not succeed in communicating with him.
Echoing similar sentiments, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh slammed Kumar saying the latter is giving “chameleons” tough competition in changing their colours. “Nitish Kumar, who frequently changes political partners, is giving tough competition to the chameleons in changing colours,” he wrote in a post on X.
Without naming anyone, the Congress MP said,” The people of Bihar will not forgive this betrayal and those who made them dance to their tune.”
He said, “It is quite clear that the prime minister and the BJP are scared of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and this political drama has been created to divert attention from it.”
Kumar’s latest move is a major setback to the INDIA ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and “Mahagathbandhan” in Bihar. He was one of the architects of the Opposition alliance. In Bihar, the Congress was part of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ (JDU and Rashtriya Janata Dal) government.
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