Nitish's return to NDA will have no impact on I.N.D.I.A bloc: Jairam Ramesh

The Congress leader alleged that "Kumar's betrayal" was "masterminded by the Prime Minister".

New Delhi: Congress on Monday insisted that Nitish Kumar’s exit will not have any impact on the Opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc ahead of Lok Sabha elections, claiming that the Bihar Chief Minister has now become a symbol of political somersaults from being a governance role model.

The party even called Nitish a “political chameleon” and even chameleons would “not know how he changes colour this fast”.

At the same time, Congress was cautious enough not to create trouble with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee even as the party said Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra received a warm welcome in Jalpaiguri and Siliguri despite Trinamool Congress’ “efforts” to create hurdles.

While Rahul did not directly mention Nitish in his first public meeting in Kishanganj as the yatra entered Bihar, party president Mallikarjun Kharge said in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar that one person’s exit will not weaken them and they remain united to defeat the BJP.

Rahul, however, had a message to voters in Bihar when he said that Bihar has been an epicentre of the struggle for social justice and the entire country looked forward to them when the question of social justice arises.

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh told a press conference in Kishanganj that Nitish’s exit was part of a “jugalbandi” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the JD(U) chief. He said when the yatra started in Manipur, the BJP engineered the defection of Milind Deora in a bid to manage headlines.

“As the yatra entered Bihar, the Prime Minister was looking for the same moment… They were upset and in trouble…He (Modi) told the master of ‘u-turn’ (Nitish) to make one more flip and the master of ‘u-turn’ made another flip. It is a ‘jugalbandi’ between a master of lies sitting in Delhi and the one sitting in Patna who is an expert in betrayal,” Ramesh said.

Insisting that Nitish walking out of alliance and forming a government with the BJP will have no impact, he said several I.N.D.I.A leaders are feeling relieved that he is not with the bloc and it is fine that he is gone.

He said Nitish was part of I.N.D.I.A meetings in Patna, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi “but what happened in the last two three months, we had no clue, his behaviour in these meetings was not one that gave us confidence…Nitish used to be a symbol of good governance but now people are saying he is ‘Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram’. No one will take them seriously.”

Asked whether Nitish’s exit will impact the alliance, he said the question should be posed to the BJP how it will impact the NDA and whether Modi will break his silence on conducting caste census.

“We know about a big political leader of Bihar being described as a ‘mausam vaigyanik’ (one who reads the weather correctly). Nitish-ji is not one but a political chameleon and even chameleons would not know how he changes colours so quickly,” he said.

The party also continued to play down its differences with the Trinamool Congress with Ramesh refusing to be drawn into a war of words over the Mamata Banerjee-led government refusing permission to Rahul to be in Malda Guest House.

“There are still two more days left, a lot can change in two days. We will proceed according to our program and we are confident that we will get support from the administration,” he said.

On the Trinamool Congress, Ramesh also said “Our Trinamool friends” tore yatra’s posters and tried to persuade people not to come out to watch the yatra.

“Our workers got very angry, very agitated, I had to pacify them. But despite the efforts of Trinamool , we have received a warm welcome in Jalpaiguri and Siliguri and we hope that we will get a similar welcome in Malda, Murshidabad and Birbhum because no power can stop the yatra,” he added.