Nationalist Congress veteran Sharad Pawar said he was surprised by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s decision on Sunday to quit the Mahagathbandhan, or Grand Alliance of Opposition parties, and join forces with his former ally the NDA, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party. is.
NCP leader wonders what happened to Janata Dal (Unified) president’s change of heart, one of the architects of the Indian bloc formed to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Indian parliamentary elections However, the people said: It will teach Nitish Kumar a lesson in the future.
Attacking the Bihar Chief Minister for dumping the Mahagathbandhan in the state, Pawar said, “On the contrary, he was playing a role against the BJP. I don’t know what happened all of a sudden, but the masses have definitely turned to him. It will give you lessons for future roles…”
A senior opposition figure told news agency ANI that he had never seen a situation like this in such a short period of time. “Whatever happened in Patna, we have never seen a situation like this before in such a short period of time… It was Nitish Kumar who convened all non-Indian Bharatiya Janata Party parties in Patna. His role was similar, but what happened in the last 10-15 days is that he left this ideology and today he joined the BJP and formed the government. In the last 10 days, I didn’t think he would take such a step,” Pawar was quoted as saying by ANI.
With the general elections just a few months away, Nitish Kumar’s move to dissolve his alliance with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal in order to revive his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party , is seen as a major setback for India.
After quitting the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2022, Nitish Kumar has taken the initiative to unite all opposition parties to jointly fight Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling party in the national elections.
But on Sunday, Nitish Kumar took oath as the chief minister of Bihar for the ninth time at the Raj Bhawan, this time switching sides again to the BJP side, making it his second jump in two years.
Overall, this was his fifth crossover in just over a decade, ahead of his ninth stint as Prime Minister.
Other Congress leaders, RJD, DMK, JMM, TMC, CPI(ML)-L and AAP, also attacked Nitish Kumar after the Indian bloc retreated.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh slammed Nitish Kumar and said it was clear that “political theater” was being created to divert attention from the party’s Bharat Jodh Nyay Yatra.
Ramesh added that it is clear that the prime minister (Narendra Modi) and the Bharatiya Janata Party are “afraid” of the yatra undertaken by Rahul Gandhi, who is scheduled to enter Bihar.
The people of Bihar will not forgive this “betrayal expert” and those who are making him dance to their tune, the Congress MP said.
Ramesh, however, said the Indian bloc is strong and “we will unite and fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party and all political parties like DMK, NCP, TMC and SP will fight together.”
The Trinamool Congress said Nitish Kumar is “known for regular political somersaults” and claimed that people would react to such “opportunism”.
However, many opposition leaders, including Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, said they knew Nitish Kumar might defect.
“There are a lot of people in this country who are like ‘Arya Ram, Gaya Ram,'” Kharge said, referring to the expression used by political turncoats.
Kharge said if Nitish Kumar wanted to stay, he would have stayed.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, a former deputy under Nitish Kumar in the previous government, said the JD(U) leader was a “respectable” but “tired” leader, adding that the 70-year-old leader He warned the Bharatiya Janata Party that it was unwilling to share “credit” with allies.
“Whatever excuse Nitish ji has for switching sides, his JD(U) is all set to finish in the Lok Sabha polls,” he added.
The CPI(ML) Liberation, which was supporting the Mahagathbandhan government from outside, said Nitish Kumar, the “longest serving CM”, would be used “as a pawn” by the RSS-BJP alliance.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, in a post about the Hindi ‘X’, said, “The Bharatiya Janata Party has never been as weak as it is today. Today, a new record of betrayal has been created.”
“The people will give a befitting response. There is no greater defeat than someone not believing in you as a human being…The people will respond to this insult by defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in the Lok Sabha elections.” said Yadav. In another post.
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said, “Both the three parties (JD(U), RJD and BJP) have betrayed the people of Bihar regarding their political ideology, including the issues and promises they have discussed.”
(Information provided by agency)
