Sonia Gandhi Recalls Nitish Kumar Exit in Memoir; JD(U) Rejects Account
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi has described the exit of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar from the opposition INDIA bloc in January 2024 as a planned move, according to details revealed in her newly released memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love. Janata Dal (United) leaders have strongly rejected her account, defending their party chief's role in forming the alliance.
In her book, Sonia Gandhi writes that the Janata Dal (United) president abruptly exited an opposition alliance meeting in the lead-up to the 2024 general election. "In January (2024) came another setback, when one of our main allies, the chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, abruptly walked out of a meeting, making a feeble excuse," she writes in the memoir.
She recalls her impression at the time of his departure, stating, "It felt strange: Something was afoot. True enough, the news came: He had rejoined Modi’s NDA. It had clearly been planned." While noting that the departure was damaging to the opposition alliance, she writes that "after the initial shock waves subsided, our determination to go ahead returned even stronger."
JD(U) Leadership Rejects Sonia Gandhi's Characterisation
The Janata Dal (United) responded critically to the claims made in the memoir. Party national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad expressed dissatisfaction with how the party president was described in the book. "The JD(U) is deeply aggrieved by the way Nitish Kumar has been mentioned in Sonia Gandhi’s book in the context of the INDIA bloc. We believe that Nitish Kumar is the architect and driving force behind the INDIA bloc, which is currently being led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi," Prasad said in a video statement.
JD(U) national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha also questioned the account, stating it failed to address the circumstances surrounding Nitish Kumar's decision to leave the coalition. Jha criticized what he described as personal remarks targeting public figures.
"The book stated that Nitish Kumar left the INDIA alliance meeting for weak reasons. However, people should understand that Nitish Kumar laid the foundation of the INDIA alliance. Leaders came together because of the trust he built among them. He travelled across the country, brought different opposition leaders together, and organised the first meeting in Patna," Jha said.
Discussions Within the Congress Working Committee
The circumstances of Nitish Kumar's departure from the INDIA bloc had previously been discussed within the Congress party. During a Congress Working Committee meeting in September, senior leader Digvijaya Singh argued that the party should not have allowed the Bihar chief minister to leave the alliance.
Sonia Gandhi disagreed with that perspective during the meeting. According to a source present at the gathering, she stated, "Thank God Nitish Kumar left on time. He was always meant to go there." The source added that she characterized Nitish Kumar as having been "constantly looking for new ways to exit the INDIA bloc."
Nitish Kumar had originally hosted the founding meeting of the INDIA bloc parties in Patna in June 2023, before leaving the coalition in January 2024 to realign with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
