Congress hit back on JDU after K. C. Tyagi suggested that his party left the Grand Allaince because the grand old party did not heed the unease expressed by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in a meeting with Rahul Gandhi when RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s name popped up in a corruption case.
In a no hold barrel rebuttal Party's Bihar in charge Shaktisinh Gohil used the occasion to clarify the Congress stand on JDU. He said," if there is a person who is not welcomed in the Grand Alliance it is Nitish Kumar. Congress does not need to reconsider its stand on RJD. Instead, Nitish should make self introspection for his sorry plight."
While Congress Spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi went on to add that JDU should not blame the Congress for their ouster from Grand Alliance. “Nitish had already made up his mind for the switch over and he was merely looking for an excuse”, she said. She further added that the electorate will teach him a lesson.
Earlier, in a press conference after the two day national executive meeting of the party, JD U General Secretary K. C. Tyagi had said: “Before the Mahagathbandhan broke up Nitish Kumar met Rahul Gandhi about the crisis on Bihar’s corruption cases and asked him to intervene. But Rahul Gandhi’s lack of initiative buried dialogue back then and there is no point in starting a new dialogue until the Congress ends its relationship with a corrupt party like the RJD.”
According to a political analyst: "Congress is heavily dependent on the RJD due to latter’s formidable electoral base and its consistent support to the former. However, a section of party leaders due to their allegiance toward former Bihar Congress president Ashok Choudhry who is now in JDU, creating a confusion in the favor of Nitish Kumar.”
However, one senior party leader wonders: How could Congress ignore the fact that after abandoning the Grand Alliance Nitish had tried hard to break away a faction from the state unit of the party.
Under pressure to assert its Big Brother role in Bihar NDA, JDU seems to be playing its cards one after another in a hurry. Political observers feel that K. C. Tyagi did a mistake by dragging Congress at this point of time. They point out, Congress rebuff will further weaken JDU's bargaining position ahead of Amit Shah and Nitish kumar scheduled meeting on July 12—in which the primary agenda is expected to be the seat sharing for the upcoming Loksabha Election.
