Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will not join the Congress’ ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ when it enters his state on January 30, sources said Thursday afternoon. Sources said an invitation was extended last evening – via the Congress’ legislature party leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan but Nitish Kumar, already upset by delays to seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha poll, was non-committal about his participation.
The Janata Dal (United) boss Nitish Kumar staying away from the Rahul Gandhi-led yatra means tension within the INDIA opposition bloc – formed amid fanfare in July last year to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP in the April/May Lok Sabha election – is now at uncomfortable high.
Nitish Kumar is widely seen as the man who made the INDIA bloc possible; the wily politician crisscrossed the country, meeting and convincing opposition leaders to work together to oust the BJP.
This latest (and potentially biggest) challenge comes a day after Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee all but cut ties with the bloc, insisting her Trinamool Congress will fight all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state under its own steam. Ominously, she also suggested she is reviewing her INDIA membership.
Ms Banerjee, who will not participate in the yatra either, ripped into the Congress this week, accusing the party of failing to observe common courtesy by notifying her when the procession entered her state.
Like Nitish Kumar, the fiery Trinamool boss has also criticised the Congress for dragging its feet over seat-sharing talks; the Congress reportedly wants 10-12 seats in Bengal but has been offered only two.
Ms Banerjee’s offer, sources have said, is based on the Congress’ abysmal performance in the past two general elections; in the 2014 poll the party won four seats and, five years, later won just two
The Congress, aware its INDIA bloc experiment is on the brink of collapse, reached out immediately.
Comms boss Jairam Ramesh, with Mr Gandhi and the yatra, insisted “all INDIA partners will unitedly fight Lok Sabha polls in Bengal”, and General Secretary KC Venugopal said, “There will be an alliance in Bengal… Mamata Banerjee is a serious leader in INDIA alliance. These are small differences.”