Nitish plans Opposition meeting on day of Congress plenary

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s decision to call a meeting of the ruling Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) partners on February 25 has made the central leadership of the Congress uncomfortable as the date coincides with the all-important 85th plenary of the All India Congress Committee.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s decision to call a meeting of the ruling Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) partners on February 25 has made the central leadership of the Congress uncomfortable as the date coincides with the all-important 85th plenary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.

The plenary, aimed at preparing the ground for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, will be held at Raipur from February 24 to 26. All top Congress leaders will attend the central decision-making assembly of the party.

“The schedule of the AICC plenary was announced on January 2. The JD(U), or Janata Dal (United), leadership was aware of our schedule. Yet, they decided to call a meeting of the Mahagathbandhan on February 25. Such steps can cause irritation in an alliance,” said a top-ranking Congress leader. There is, however, no immediate threat to the ruling alliance in Bihar, the leader added.

In August last year, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress announced support for Nitish Kumar as chief minister when he decided to sever ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and form an alternative government. Apart from JD(U), RJD and Congress, and new coalition in power in the state has four other parties and one independent MLA in the assembly.

Senior Congress leaders alluded to some friction between the partners earlier, too, when the JD(U) did not join the culmination of Bharat Jodo Yatra at Srinagar on January 30. “Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge personally called Kumar but was told that JD(U) has some programmes in the North-East during that time,” said a second senior leader involved in the preparation of the yatra.

While the party remains committed to supporting the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar to keep the BJP out of power, it’s leaders feel that such conflicts can be avoided to keep the alliance firm. “His decision to call the meeting of the ruling alliance during our plenary prompted us to delay our response on his proposal for a pact in 2024,” the second leader said.

Last week, Kumar said at an event that he is waiting for the Congress’s approval for Opposition unity. “I am ready (to forge greater Opposition unity in the country). I am waiting for the Congress’s signal,” he toldCongress leader Salman Khurshid at an event organized by JD(U) ally, CPI(ML).

When asked about Kumar’s statement, Congress leaders on Sunday said that no Opposition unity for 2024 Lok Sabha elections would be possible without them, and the grand old party has already started a “clear-cut initiative” to bring all like-minded outfits together. It also pointed out that the Congress is the only party that has never allied with the BJP (something the JD-U has done twice in the past).

In Bihar, state-level Congress leaders, however, maintained that the Mahagathbandhan meeting in Purnia will not be a major issue going forward. Congress leader Anand Madhav decribed the schedule of the meeting as a “coincidence”, and said six of the seven allies of the ruling alliance have agreed to meet on February 25.

Senior Congress leader Premchand Mishra said that while the top brass of the state Congress will not be available, “some leaders might join the meeting”.

JD(U) spokesperson Sunil Singh said: “Everybody cannot come on a platform at the same time. But one thing on which all opposition parties, including Congress, are on the same page is opposition unity which has been mooted by CM. Even Congress have welcomed this idea.”