Nitish takes a U-turn whenever BJP exerts pressure: Rahul
The Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance in Bihar does not need chief minister Nitish Kumar to fight for social justice, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said.
The Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance in Bihar does not need chief minister Nitish Kumar to fight for social justice, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said, as he broke his silence on the Janata Dal (United) chief’s exit from the coalition and slammed him for “taking a U-turn each time little pressure is exerted” by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre.
“The Mahagathbandhan will fight for social justice in Bihar. We don’t require Nitish Kumar for that purpose, we don’t require him at all,” Gandhi said at Rangbhumi Maidan in Purnea district, where his party’s ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered during the day.
“Right now, Baghel ji (former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel) told me a joke. The joke goes like this… Your chief minister took oath at the governor’s house. Some of his ministers also took oaths. Celebrations were going on. Nitish Kumar decided to go back to his home. Suddenly, while going back, he realised he left his shawl at the governor’s house. He went back and met the governor. The governor was shocked and said ‘you came back so quick this time’,” he said.
“So this is the condition of Bihar, a little pressure is exerted, and he (Nitish Kumar) makes a U-turn,” he added.
On Sunday, Kumar announced the end of the 17-month-old coalition government run by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), JD(U), Congress and Left parties, and took oath as chief minister for the ninth time.
READ | Nitish Kumar, after return to NDA, says 'no question of going anywhere now'
It was not for the first time that Kumar switched sides. In 2005, he formed his first government in alliance with the BJP. He snapped ties in 2013, fought the 2014 Lok Sabha polls alone and the 2015 assembly polls in alliance with the RJD. He returned to the NDA in 2017. The JD(U) contested the 2019 national polls and 2020 Bihar elections as part of the BJP-led grouping. In 2022, Kumar quit the NDA to form the government again with the RJD, Congress, and Left parties.
Gandhi said the current Mahagathbandhan allies are ready to fight for social justice in Bihar.
“It was my party which put up pressure on Nitish Kumar and the RJD for conducting a caste census, which the BJP never wanted,” the Congress leader said, referring to the caste survey that resulted in the state hiking quotas to 75% last year.
“The BJP never wanted to conduct a caste census. It always wanted to divert the attention of the people from prime issues of social and economic justice,” he added.
Dalits and backward classes don’t get due representation in all sectors of the country, the Congress leader said. “Our country needs a caste-based census to determine the exact population of Dalits, OBCs, tribals and others,” he added.
The caste survey had caused a political storm in Bihar and nationally last year, with the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), of which Kumar was until Sunday a key part, calling for a nationwide caste census.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who was scheduled to speak at the rally, could not reach Purnea, as his flight failed to land at the airport due to low visibility, according to state party chief Akhilesh Prasad.
He, however, addressed the crowd virtually. “We don’t know why Nitish Kumar left the alliance but we can say that his departure will not affect us. Instead, we have emerged much stronger,” he said.
The BJP blamed Gandhi for Kumar’s exit from the Mahagathbandhan.
“Rahul Gandhi has been proven to be inauspicious for the INDIA bloc. The alliance breaks wherever he goes... The same happened in West Bengal and Bihar. In Uttar Pradesh, if he bows down before Akhilesh Yadav, then it is a different thing... Rahul should first do ‘nyay’ within the party,” Union minister Giriraj Singh said.
