NEW DELHI: The Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday described party president Nitish Kumar as the “architect” of the opposition INDIA bloc, responding to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s remarks about the former Bihar chief minister in her memoir.In her book, “Belonging: A Journey of Love,” released in India on Tuesday, Sonia Gandhi wrote that Nitish Kumar was “looking for an opportunity to exit the INDIA bloc” and was under the BJP’s “influence.”“JD(U) is deeply aggrieved by the way Nitish Kumar has been portrayed in Sonia Gandhi’s book in the context of the INDIA bloc. We believe Nitish Kumar is the architect and driving force behind the alliance, which is now being led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi,” JD(U) spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad said in a video statement.“Most regional parties were initially reluctant to include the Congress in the INDIA bloc, and Nitish Kumar had persuaded them to come together with the Congress. The first meeting of the alliance in Patna was subsequently successful,” Prasad added.The opposition alliance held two more meetings, in Bengaluru and Mumbai, respectively.Explaining Nitish Kumar’s decision to leave the INDIA bloc, Prasad argued that the then Bihar chief minister had eventually realised that the alliance would not work because of the ambitions and regional political interests of the Congress and its allies, as well as their “inability” to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).“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 NDA. That is why Nitish Kumar left the INDIA bloc,” he added.Nitish Kumar, who has switched political alliances several times, rejoined the NDA in January 2024, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He had left the alliance to join the Mahagathbandhan in August 2022.Meanwhile, another JD(U) leader, Sanjay Kumar Jha, accused Sonia Gandhi of making “petty and frivolous” remarks.“She is a senior leader. One did not expect such petty and frivolous remarks from her. But it seems to have become a trait of all senior leaders of the Congress. Just recall what (Mallikarjun) Kharge had said recently,” the Rajya Sabha MP told reporters in Patna, referring to the Congress president’s recent “baap” (father) comment about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.“The Congress should remember that the alliance came into being not because of its own goodwill but because of the credibility that our leader enjoyed,” Jha added.“Nitish Kumar has five decades of political experience behind him, starting with student activism during the Emergency, which also led to his imprisonment. He succeeded in bringing together many leaders who wanted an alliance without the Congress. It was at the instance of our leader that they relented,” the JD(U) leader asserted.Jha also noted that Nitish Kumar had hosted the first meeting of opposition leaders in Patna, but “things did not go in a manner that he would have appreciated.”“Let us not forget that although our leader hosted the first meeting of opposition leaders, He was opposed to the very acronym INDIA, which rhymes with the name of the country. It was reported widely. Moreover, it became clear soon that all this talk of the opposition party was just a ploy to grab power by leaders who were more concerned about their respective dynasties than anything else,” he remarked.
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In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the INDIA bloc prevented the BJP from securing a third consecutive majority, although the saffron party formed its third successive government at the Centre with the support of its NDA allies. The JD(U) and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party are among the BJP’s key allies, together accounting for 28 seats in the Lok Sabha.In November 2025, Nitish Kumar became Bihar chief minister for the 10th time after the NDA swept the state assembly elections. He became a Rajya Sabha member in April, paving the way for Samrat Choudhary to take over as Bihar’s first BJP chief minister.(With PTI inputs)
