Nitish Kumar, RJD deny being upset with ‘all-Congress show’, but prevailing sentiment: ‘Everyone must get space’

India’s opposition leaders, from left, Mulayam Singh Yadav, T.R.Baalu, M.K Stalin, Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarajun Kharge, Nitish Kumar, Sharad Pawar, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Arvind Kejriwal attend a meeting of opposition parties in Bengaluru, India, Tuesday, July 18, 2023. (AP Photo)

“I do not know where all this news (of him being upset) is coming from. I left Bengaluru soon after the meeting as Rajgir was on my mind. And it was not necessary for everyone to speak at the post-conclave press conference,” Nitish told reporters on the sidelines of the Malmas fair in Rajgir. “I am very happy that everything went well. Whereas we had a meeting of 15 parties in Patna, there were 26 parties in Bengaluru. I suggested the inclusion of some parties and there were some suggestions from others.”

Asked about choosing INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) as the name of the anti-BJP front, the CM said, “There was no such thing. See how the NDA (BJP-led National Democratic Alliance) is reacting now. They are claiming the participation of 38 parties. Can they name these parties? Our alliance has all the important names. Did the NDA use to meet before as it did during the days of Atal ji (Atal Behari Vajpayee)? Now that our efforts are working, BJP is calling a meeting of the NDA.”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shakes hands with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and KC Venugopal and NCP leader Sharad Pawar look on, during opposition parties’ meet, in Bengaluru, Tuesday, July 18, 2023. (PTI Photo)

Asked if he was in contention for the position of INDIA’s national convenor, which could be decided in Mumbai during the next meeting of the front, Nitish said, “I am not after these things. I am neither after any position nor do I have any personal ambition. I am happy that everything is going well.”

Nitish hit out at BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi who claimed that the Bihar CM was upset on not being given due respect in Bengaluru. “Was he (Sushil Kumar Modi) in Bengaluru?” the JD(U) chief shot back.

JD(U) national president and Munger MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh, or Lalan Singh, said, “We left the meeting venue a bit early as we had to catch our flight.” But sources in the JD(U) pointed out that Bengaluru was an “all-Congress show” with leaders from Bihar such as the CM, Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, and Lalu Prasad hardly getting any space in the posters and banners put up across the city ahead of the conclave. “Though any naming the alliance INDIA does not matter much, it looks too long and sounds similar to NDA. Since most leaders supported INDIA, we went with it … But all said and done, we are satisfied that the initiative taken by Nitish Kumar has been fructifying and is coming to a logical conclusion,” said a senior JD(U) leader.

Though the JD(U) seemingly does not want to make much out of what they said was the “all-Congress show”, an RJD leader said Nitish, Lalu and Tejashwi’s decision to not address the media in Bengaluru and Patna on Tuesday was meant to serve a message to the Congress about giving “all stakeholders their due space” irrespective of who hosts the meeting of the parties in the anti-BJP front.

In public, however, the RJD echoed the CM’s comments. Party national spokesperson Subodh Kumar Mehta said, “We all are very happy with the progress made by the alliance. By calling it INDIA, we have questioned the BJP’s idea of a narrow India and put forward our idea of an inclusive India.”