JD(U) Alleges Neglect of INDIA Alliance After Poll Debacle in Three States

In the aftermath of the assembly election results in four states, Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) has pointed fingers at the Congress, alleging neglect of the INDIA alliance partners during the election campaign.

The Congress, despite positioning itself as a formidable opponent to the BJP, suffered a massive blow in the Hindi heartland as the party lost all three states- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The blame game began shortly after the Congress scheduled a meeting for the opposition bloc INDIA on December 6. The meeting of the INDIA bloc is significant as the assembly results in four states serve as an important precursor to next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

Top JD(U) leaders like KC Tyagi and Sunil Kumar Pintu emphasized the “indifferent” and “negative behaviour” exhibited by Congress throughout the assembly election campaign.

KC Tyagi highlighted that “despite the presence of JD(U), Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, leaders from these parties were ignored”.

The JD(U) leader said that “the Congress should have extended an invitation to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a prominent socialist figure, to campaign in the assembly elections. Additionally, there are other significant leaders like Lalu Yadav, Sharad Yadav, Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav who could have played crucial roles in the elections”.

JD(U) leaders in Patna also highlighted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s role in uniting opposition parties and bringing them on one platform to counter the BJP-led NDA in the elections.  

“INDIA should now run according to Nitish Kumar. Congress ignored the alliance because it was preoccupied with the elections in five states. Now the results are also out. Nitish Kumar is the architect of the INDIA alliance and could navigate the boat easily”.JD(U)  state general secretary Nikhil Mandal said.

The opposition coalition against the BJP was formed after a gathering of 16 political parties in Patna on June 23.

The name INDIA was decided on July 18 in Bengaluru and the last meeting was organized by Shiv Sena (UTB) in Mumbai, which was attended by top leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Chief Ministers of several states.

Amid the blame game, political analysts in Bihar see the Congress debacle in three states as a factor that could bolster the bargaining power of the INDIA alliance during the upcoming seat-sharing negotiations leading up to the Lok Sabha elections.