JDU retaliates against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's memoirs, calls Nitish Kumar creator of India bloc

According to a report by India Today, the Janata Dal (United) has expressed strong displeasure over the portrayal of the party's national president and former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's memoirs. According to a PTI report, the JDU claimed that Nitish Kumar was the chief architect and driving force of the opposition India bloc, while rejecting Sonia Gandhi's claim that he was looking for an opportunity to leave the alliance.

In a critical statement, JDU national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad alleged that Sonia Gandhi has presented this chapter in her book as part of a strategy to mislead the public. In a video statement, he said that his party is deeply hurt by the mention of Nitish Kumar in Sonia Gandhi's book. It believes that Nitish Kumar is the creator of the India bloc, which is currently being led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Sonia Gandhi has written in her memoir book 'Belonging: A Journey of Love' that Nitish Kumar was looking for a way out of the India bloc and was under the influence of the BJP. The book also mentions Nitish Kumar's return to the National Democratic Alliance in early 2024.

Retaliating against this claim, Rajiv Ranjan Prasad claimed that most regional parties were initially reluctant to include Congress in the opposition alliance and it was Nitish Kumar who convinced them to join hands with Congress. According to him, as a result of this, the first meeting of the alliance in Patna was successful.

Prasad further stated that Nitish Kumar eventually realized that the India bloc would not work due to the ambitions of Congress and its allies, regional political interests, as well as their inability to counter the NDA. Due to the role of Congress and its allies and their ambitions, it became clear that they did not have the capacity to face the NDA and that is why Nitish Kumar left the India bloc. The JDU has clarified that Nitish Kumar brought opposition parties together and left the alliance only after concluding that this alliance cannot effectively challenge the NDA.