Rahul and his team members were getting inputs that stated that Kumar was in talks with BJP.
The decision of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi not to rush to appoint JDU chief Nitish Kumar as the convener of the I.N.D.I.A bloc, despite pressure from a certain section of the Congress, is likely to turn out to be prophetic, with Kumar now moving forward to change his allegiance and join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance both in Bihar and at the national level.
Sources aware of the deliberations involving Rahul Gandhi and his close associates told The Sunday Guardian that there was an inkling in the mind of the senior Congress leader that Kumar would change his political posturing as the Lok Sabha election neared. As a result, he was resisting the appointment of Kumar as the convener of the alliance, although many within the Congress Party and within the alliance wanted Nitish as convener.
The roots of these concerns stemmed from the input that Rahul Gandhi and his team members were getting which clearly stated that Kumar was in talks with the BJP for a mutually acceptable seat sharing agreement for the 2024 elections. Sources in the BJP, Congress and the JDU had told The Sunday Guardian last month that Kumar was waiting for the period of kharmas, considered to be inauspicious by Hindu scriptures, to end to start his “new” journey.
JDU leaders were surprised after no unanimous decision on the role he would carry out as a leading member of the alliance was made even in August last year’s meet of the I.N.D.I.A bloc in Mumbai. His supporters said announcing him as the convener or any other similar position should have ideally been among the first major announcements of the alliance leaders considering it was Kumar who had floated and acted on the idea of all anti-BJP leaders coming under one umbrella. They add that it was Rahul Gandhi who blocked the move, backed by Sonia Gandhi.
The Sunday Guardian had reported in December that Congress decision makers were not keen to give Nitish a top spot in the alliance due to his frequent changes in posturing.
According to sources in the Congress who spoke to The Sunday Guardian, this scenario, while not being discussed in the forum involving I.N.D.I.A politicians, was being constantly deliberated in the Congress close circles.
The same was not shared with other alliance leaders as it would have led to friction and doubts among the members and hence the Congress decision-making duo of Sonia and Rahul decided to block the offer of convener to Nitish Kumar and to let things play out and unravel itself, as it did earlier last week.
According to another Congress party leader, even if Kumar was given the post of convener, he would have left the alliance as he believed that the Narendra Modi government was coming back to power, irrespective of I.N.D.I.A bloc fighting tacitly.
His belief became stronger after the poor show of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, all Hindi belt states, where Congress was expected to come back or regain power in at least two if not all the three states.
A section of the Congress Party silent but unhappy with the top leadership claim that even if Nitish Kumar was in touch with the BJP, he ought to have been offered the convener post. “In that way, there would have been a better chance of changing his mind about joining the NDA”. Another said that “It was obvious to Nitish for months that Rahul and Sonia were opposed to him, which may have been the trigger for his shift from the I.N.D.I.A coalition which is led by the biggest opposition party, the Congress, to the NDA led by the BJP.”