Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar’s NDA switch was not the right thing and predicted the move will actually help the Opposition’s INDIA bloc in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“I think Nitish Kumar should not have gone there. He didn’t do the right thing. It is not right for democracy. I think this will harm the NDA in Bihar, and the INDIA alliance will benefit from it…,” Kejriwal said in a softly-worded criticism of the JD(U) leader.
Earlier on Sunday, Nitish Kumar resigned form the post of Bihar chief minister and ended his association with the INDIA bloc. He later joined the BJP-led NDA and formed a new government.
Nitish Kumar’s party held Congress responsible for his exit from the INDIA alliance and mentioned Kejriwal’s meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, following which Mallikarjun Kharge’s name was proposed for the Opposition’s PM face.
Speaking to reporters after Nitish Kumar’s swearing-in ceremony, JD(U) leader KC Tyagi said that Congress wanted to steal the leadership of INDIA bloc.
“In the meeting that took place on December 19, a conspiracy was hatched to appropriate the leadership of INDIA bloc, as Mallikarjun Kharge’s name was proposed (as PM),” Tyagi said.
He said that while JD(U) pressed for seat-sharing agreement at the earliest, Congress kept delaying it and the alliance failed to come up with a definite plan.
“Earlier, in the meeting in Mumbai, it was unanimously decided that the bloc carry its principal agenda forward without naming a PM face. However, as part of a well-thought-out plan, (West Bengal CM and TMC chief) Mamata Banerjee proposed Kharge’s name as PM (with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal seconding it). Many of the Opposition parties of today carved out their individual identities after uncoupling themselves from the Congress. While we pressed for seat-sharing talks at the earliest, the Congress kept dragging their feet and delaying it. INDIA failed to come up with a definite plan or roadmap to fight the BJP,” Tyagi said.
Interestingly, both, Kejriwal’s AAP and Banerjee’s TMC, have refused to ally with the Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Punjab and West Bengal, respectively.