New Delhi: Former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s exit from the INDIA bloc in January 2024 was planned, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi writes in her memoir, adding that Nitish abruptly walked out of a meeting of opposition leaders in the run-up to the general election, making a “feeble excuse”.
Sonia recalls Nitish’s departure from the INDIA bloc in January 2024, after which he returned to the BJP-led NDA. “In January (2024) came another setback, when one of our main allies, the chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, abruptly walked out of a meeting, making a feeble excuse,” she writes.
“It felt strange: Something was afoot. True enough, the news came: He had rejoined Modi’s NDA. It had clearly been planned,” she adds.
Sonia describes Nitish’s departure as damaging for the opposition alliance, but says the initial setback did not derail its plans. “But after the initial shock waves subsided, our determination to go ahead returned even stronger,” she writes.
Nitish Kumar’s party, the Janata Dal (United), hit back at Sonia over the account, with party national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad saying Wednesday that the party was “deeply aggrieved” by the manner in which its president was mentioned in Sonia’s just-released memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love.
“The JD(U) is deeply aggrieved by the way Nitish Kumar has been mentioned in Sonia Gandhi’s book in the context of the INDIA bloc. We believe that Nitish Kumar is the architect and driving force behind the INDIA bloc, which is currently being led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi,” Prasad said in a video statement.
JD(U) national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha, too, questioned Sonia’s account, saying it did not explain the circumstances that led Nitish to leave the alliance.
“What I have particularly noticed in Sonia Gandhi’s book is the remark about Nitish Kumar. It reflects what appears to be a new culture within the Congress, where senior leaders make personal and below-the-belt remarks against politicians who have dedicated their lives to public service and the development of their states,” Jha said.
“The book stated that Nitish Kumar left the INDIA alliance meeting for weak reasons. However, people should understand that Nitish Kumar laid the foundation of the INDIA alliance. Leaders came together because of the trust he built among them. He travelled across the country, brought different opposition leaders together, and organised the first meeting in Patna,” he added.
The issue had also come up at a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in September. During a discussion on Nitish’s exit, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh argued that the party should not have let him leave the INDIA bloc.
Sonia Gandhi disagreed. A source present at that meeting quoted her as having said, “Thank God Nitish Kumar left on time. He was always meant to go there.” Sonia, according to the source, also said Nitish had been “constantly looking for new ways to exit the INDIA bloc”.
Nitish had hosted the first meeting of INDIA bloc parties in Patna in June 2023.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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At the end of twenty years in power, Shri Nitish Kumar left Bihar with a per capita income of $ 900. That is the metric I judge him by.