Patna, Nov 11 — The Janata Dal-United (JD-U), taking strong exception to former Congress President Sonia Gandhi's portrayal of Nitish Kumar in her memoir, said on Wednesday that the former Bihar Cghief Minister was in fact the chief architect of INDIA bloc and he was the key player who brought the rival factions together under one umbrella.
Sanjay Kumar Jha, JD-U's National Working President, speaking to news reporters in Patna, rejected Sonia Gandhi's claims in her memoir 'Belonging: A Journey of Love' and said that a new culture has emerged within the Congress, where senior party leaders make personal and highly trivial remarks against politicians who have dedicated their entire lives to the service of the nation and their state.
The claims in the memoir that Nitish Kumar left the 'INDIA' alliance for flimsy reasons was outrightly baseless and fallacious, he said.
Calling out Congress' duplicity, Sanjay Kumar Jha also referred to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's recent distasteful and derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at an event in Patna.
"It was Nitish Kumar who laid the foundation for INDIA alliance, it was through his initiative and the trust placed in him that the opposition parties came together," the JD-U National working President said, while adding that the former Bihar Chief Minister travelled across the country to bring various opposition leaders together, and the first meeting of the alliance was also held in Patna at his initiative.
JD-U's response came in response to Sonia Gandhi's assertions in her autobiography that Nitish Kumar was looking for an opportunity to exit the INDIA bloc and was "under the control of the Bharatiya Janata Party".
Responding to the claims, Sanjay Kumar Jha said that the INDIA alliance lacked any coherent policy, ideology, or clear vision for the country and discussions in the meetings were focused solely on targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and engaging in rhetoric against him.
Highlighting that Nitish Kumar was put in prison for two years, during the Congress-imposed Emergency, the JD-U National Working President said that it is deeply regrettable that such petty and personal remarks have been made about a senior leader of his stature.
Rajeev Ranjan Prasad, the JD-U National Spokesperson also accused the Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi of misleading the readers with unverified information, regarding INDIA bloc and unceremonious exit of Nitish Kumar from the alliance.
He said that initially, many regional parties apprehensive and opposed to joining the Congress-led alliance and it was Nitish Kumar who convinced them to join hands with the grand old party.
"He (Nitish Kumar) brought the parties together, following which the first meeting of the INDIA alliance was also held in Patna," Prasad said.
He noted that it was because of Congress and allies' competing ambitions and regional political interests that Nitish Kumar saw it unable to mount a challenge to the NDA and eventually exited.
"The role of the Congress and its allies, their ambitions and regional political interests made it clear that they did not have the capacity to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). That is why Nitish Kumar left the INDIA bloc," Prasad said.