Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar a 'chameleon', 'expert' of betrayal: Congress

Pic: PTI File

The Congress party launched a scathing attack on Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (U) president Nitish Kumar, labeling him a "chameleon" and asserting that the people of the state will not forgive this "expert" in betrayal, along with those manipulating him.

The criticism comes in response to Kumar's decision to resign as the chief minister of Bihar, breaking away from the 'Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance)' in the state, and dealing a significant blow to the opposition INDIA alliance.

Dubbing him as "Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram", the Congress said there are many people like him in the country. The expression was used widely in politics in the 90s referring to the frequent floor-crossing and switching of parties, newswire PTI reported.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said they already knew about Kumar's decision to leave the alliance, but had not said anything to help keep the INDIA bloc together.

"There are many people like 'Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram' in the country. Earlier he and I were fighting together. When I talked to (RJD chief) Lalu (Prasad) ji and (his son) Tejashwi (Yadav) ji, they also said that Nitish is going," he said.

The Congress president said if Kumar wanted to stay, he would have stayed.

"Therefore, we already knew this, but we did not say anything in order to keep the INDIA bloc intact. If we say something wrong, a wrong message will go out. Lalu Prasad Yadav ji and Tejashwi Yadav ji had already given us this information. Today, it has become true," Kharge said.

After severing ties with the BJP in 2022, Kumar had embarked on a drive to bring together all parties across the country to take on the BJP and that culminated in the formation of opposition bloc INDIA.

Lashing out at Kumar, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said it is clear that a "political drama" is being created in order to divert attention from the party's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

He said it is clear that the prime minister (Narendra Modi) and the BJP are "scared" of the yatra being undertaken by Rahul Gandhi, which is set to enter Bihar soon.

The Manipur-to-Maharashtra Nyay Yatra began on January 14 and has traversed through Manipur, Nagaland, Assam and West Bengal. It will culminate in Mumbai on March 20 or 21.

In a post on 'X in Hindi', Ramesh said, "Nitish Kumar, who frequently changes political partners, is giving a tough competition to chameleons in changing colours."

The people of Bihar will not forgive this "expert of betrayal" and those who are making him dance to their tunes, he said.

"It is quite clear that the prime minister and the BJP are scared of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and this political drama has been created to divert attention from it," he said.

Ramesh said the INDIA bloc is strong. There are a few speed-breakers here and there, "but we will unitedly fight against the BJP and all parties like DMK, NCP, TMC and SP will fight it together", he asserted. On the development related to Kumar, Ramesh claimed that this will not have any impact on the Nyay Yatra, and the INDIA bloc will be further strengthened as (TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister) Mamata Banerjee has herself said this.

"This will further upset the people and I think the people of Bihar will teach the right lesson to Nitish Kumar and the BJP in the election...This is an ideological battle," he said.

This will be the headlines for a day or two, and it does not look good on Nitish Kumar who had himself called the first meeting (of the INDIA bloc) in Patna and then attended all other meetings of the opposition alliance, Ramesh said.

"But like I said, Nitish Kumar gives a tough competition to chameleons," he said. (With inputs from PTI)