Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) on Monday asserted that the Congress, its junior ally in the state, made a mistake by going it alone in assembly elections for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and not having a truck with partners in the INDIA coalition.
JD(U) chief spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar also blamed the defeat of the Congress in these states on its failure to effectively counter the BJP's alleged politics of "sectarian frenzy".
"It makes no sense to say you have an alliance at the national level but you wish to contest separately in states. Merely holding meetings, with nothing to show on the ground, makes the INDIA coalition appear too artificial to resonate with the people," said the JD(U) leader, whose party had fought five seats in MP, as many as another disgruntled partner Samajwadi Party.
He also chided the Congress for "making a mere mention of caste census and OBCs and not following these up with Bihar's demand for special status to backward states, rise in quotas for deprived castes and putting these in ninth schedule as a protection against litigation".
"These things were required in the assembly elections which have taken place just a few months ahead of Lok Sabha polls. What has been initiated in Bihar is needed in other states too. The BJP's politics of sectarian frenzy could have been countered only by raising issues of social concern," said the JD(U) leader.
He was also asked about a section of the media viewing a weakened Congress as a "boost" to Nitish Kumar.
He replied, "Nitish Kumar has made it clear that he is not an aspirant for prime minister's post. His sole concern has been to bring together all parties opposed to BJP, to which end he held parleys with leaders of different hues across the country and hosted a meeting in Patna." "We are now looking forward to the INDIA bloc regaining the momentum generated after the meetings at Patna, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Hopefully, the December 6 meeting in Delhi will be a step in that direction," the JD(U) spokesperson added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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