Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched an attack on Congress in the CPI (Communist Party of India) rally at Patna’s Miller High School on 2 November. According to him I.N.D.I. Alliance was formed in the opposition meeting held in Patna, however, the opposition bloc is not doing any work these days. The Congress party is preoccupied with the upcoming assembly polls that are scheduled to be held in five states and is not paying attention to it.
He charged that while they (other opposition parties) were making efforts to take Congress forward, the party was not worried about the same at the moment. He voiced, “We have been speaking to them, pushing them forward in I.N.D.I. Alliance. But, of late, there has not been much progress on that front. The Congress seems to be more interested in the five assembly polls,” in the rally titled ‘Remove BJP, Save India.’ “We are engaged to unite the country, he added.”
#WATCH | In Patna, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar says, "…We spoke with all the parties, urged them to unite and protect the country from those who are trying to alter its history. For this, meetings were held in Patna and elsewhere. INDIA Alliance was formed but nothing much is… pic.twitter.com/Kwe84TpQbK
— ANI (@ANI) November 2, 2023
The Bihar CM said, “We agreed to assign Congress the leading role. But it appears they will call the next meeting only after they are through with the state elections.” As the Janta Dal (United) leader raised questions about the Congress party, he portrayed himself as someone who took everyone along. He said, “We unite everyone. We take everyone together. We are socialists. Our relationship with CPI is also old. Communists and Socialists have to move forward as one.”
Nitish Kumar added, “The ties between us go way back since the time when we participated in the MLA election in 1987 and received support from all the members of CPI and CPM (Communist Party of India-Marxist) in our area. I will continue to respect you. The primary goal is to bring everyone together and adhere to a particular policy. It is more important for the future.”
Nitish Kumar also criticised the Modi government at the centre and opined that those in power have nothing to do with the country. He accused the Bharatiya Janta Party of wanting to change the history of India and alleged that they had no contribution to the freedom struggle. “They want to destroy everything. We discussed this with all the parties and came to the decision to unite to save the country, which they want to alter.”
Most of the major opposition parties had gathered in Patna in June. Congress, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) along with the left parties had gathered to discuss their strategy for the upcoming elections.
It is notable here that apart from the name of an alliance and a logo, the I.N.D.I. Alliance has neither released a seat-sharing formula, nor has announced any common strategy for the 2024 general elections. It is yet to agree on a PM candidate’s name too.
