'Aya Ram, Gaya Ram...': Mallikarjun Kharge on Nitish's Exit From Mahagathbandhan

Kharge said the information about Nitish's exit was already provided to the Congress Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav.

Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge addresses the media with opposition leaders.

(File Photo: Qamar Sibtain/IANS)

Hours after Janata Dal United (JD(U)) president Nitish Kumar stepped down from the post of Bihar chief minister on Sunday, 28 January, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that the party knew about the move but did not say anything to keep the INDIA alliance intact.

He said that there are many people like "Aya Ram, Gaya Ram" in the country. Kharge posted on X (formerly Twitter):

"Earlier him (Nitish Kumar) and us were fighting together. When I talked to Lalu (Prasad Yadav) Ji and Tejashwi (Yadav), they also said that Nitish is going. If he wanted to stay, he would have stayed but he wanted to go. And we already knew this. But, to keep the INDIA Alliance intact, we did not say anything."

Kharge added that the information about Nitish's exit was already provided to the Congress by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav.

However, speaking to ANI later in the day, Kharge also said: "It is clear that there were attempts to break the INDIA alliance. No such decisions happen so quickly. Do these things happen in 1-2 days? They must have held talks before, made all decisions before. They kept us and Lalu ji in the dark. Lalu Prasad had told me five days ago that he will quit but we have to keep fighting."

Meanwhile, RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav wrote a cryptic post on X, taking an apparent dig at Nitish Kumar:

'INDIA Alliance Will Fall': What Politicians Are Saying

JD(U) leader KC Tyagi on Sunday said, "There were issues with RJD locally but the INDIA alliance will fall due to the Congress's adamant attitude. They will not be able to ally with AAP, TMC and they will face issues in Maharashtra. After the meeting in Patna, they vanished for four months. Same happened after the Mumbai and Bengaluru meetings."

He added,

"They floated Kharge's name for PM by taking suppport of Mamata and Kejriwal despite being decided that there will be no PM face. The Congress is only aiming to strengthen itself and not the INDIA bloc."

On the other hand, Patna BJP MP and former Union Minister Ravis Shankar Prasad said, "If the main man (Nitish Kumar) behind this alliance says so, then there was no future (for INDIA alliance). There is no vacancy for the Prime Ministerial post. BJP will have a historic win in Lok Sabha polls and in Bihar we will win the whole 40 seats."

Former Bihar deputy CM and BJP leader Sushil Modi also told news agency ANI, "We welcome Nitish Kumar's decision. We knew that the RJD-JDU alliance was an unnatural alliance and would not last long. We are happy and now JDU And BJP will together form the government. I hope that the new government will be formed in the next 2-3 hours."

'Nitish Kumar Gives a Tough Competition to Chameleons'

However, Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh said that Nitish Kumar's exit will not affect the INDIA bloc.

"This will not have any impact on Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. INDIA bloc will be further strengthened, Mamata Banerjee has herself said this. This (Nitish Kumar's resignation) will further upset people and I think people of Bihar will teach the right lesson to Nitish Kumar and the BJP in the election," Ramesh said while addressing the media.

"I agree that this will be in the headlines for a day or two, it doesn't look good that Nitish Kumar had called the first meeting (of INDIA Alliance) in Patna... he attended all meetings. But like I said, Nitish Kumar gives a tough competition to chameleons," he added.

Former deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also said that Nitish Kumar could not see the RJD performing well in the alliance.

"People said that he (Nitish) did not work. We made him work. People called him a 'thaka hua' CM. He doesn't understand what he is talking. There is no anger or disappointment in the RJD. We worked well in the Mahagathbandhan. I just want to say that the game is still on. I do what I say. I wil not make personal comments but the JD(U) will be finished in 2024. Whatever they do, the people are with us. We thank the BJP and congratulate them," Yadav told news agency ANI.

Yadav added, "We enhanced education secror, provided quality of education, healthcare, employment, increased income of people. He thought how could a youg deputy CM do so much in 17 months what he could not do in 17 years?"

Congress leader Pawan Khera was also quoted by news agency ANI as saying,

"Someone who has to leave has to say something or the other. It is not easy to live with one's conscience after taking such a step. If you are doing this for the 9th time, the conscience probably left you long back. He can say whatever he wants. Nitish Kumar could have had his name registered in history in a good manner but think about what situation he has brought himself in. He is becoming a subject of mockery in every household. Now, it is his desire if he wants to a subject of mockery."

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said, "Regarding the political changes happening in Bihar, Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav, and PM Modi should apologise to the people of Bihar. All of them have deceived people with promises and their parties' ideologies. And Nitish Kumar has the biggest role in this. Till yesterday, Nitish Kumar used to say Owaisi is the B team (of BJP)."