Problems for the I.N.D.I.A. Alliance increased after the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and now Janta Dal United too seems to be unhappy with the grand old party and likely to skip the Congress-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
“The JDU chief and Bihar CM are upset with Congress over delays in seat-sharing talks for the 2024 Lok Sabha election and remain non-committal about his participation in the yatra,” said a senior JDU leader. However, Congress had invited Nitish Kumar to participate in the party’s public meeting at Purnia on January 30.
The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra led by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to enter the state of Bihar from West Bengal on January 29. However, there are reports that JDU might not join the Yatra as all is not well between the I.N.D.I.A. alliance. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is upset with Congress over the delay in seat-sharing.
“After several meetings, no decision on seat-sharing has been made, and due to this, most of the partners within the alliance are unhappy with the Congress,” said the source.
In Bihar, the Congress is demanding eight seats. The ideal thing for forging an I.N.D.I.A. bloc should have been a decision on seat-sharing first, something Nitish Kumar had been stressing since the outset.
“Had it been the I.N.D.I.A. bloc rally (January 30 event), it would have given a very good message about our unity. It is not important if allies join Rahul Gandhi’s Nyay Yatra or not; it is important to hold joint I.N.D.I.A. bloc meetings from district to state to national levels,” JDU national spokesperson K.C. Tyagi said,
Also, there are speculations that Nitish Kumar might return to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). A source from the BJP said that “talks between the two sides had been underway for the last few days.”