Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, January 30, during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Purnea, Bihar, launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, accusing him of succumbing to "little pressure" and making frequent U-turns.
Addressing a public gathering, Gandhi reportedly stated, "A little pressure is exerted, and he (Nitish Kumar) takes a U-turn. This is not how a Chief Minister should function." Gandhi's remark comes after Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Saturday (January 27) evening walked out of the INDIA Bloc and formed alliance BJP-led NDA to take oath for the 9th time.
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Further elaborating on his point, Gandhi claimed responsibility for pressuring Kumar on the issue of caste census, saying, "Let me tell you where Nitish Kumar got stuck. I told him clearly that you (Nitish Kumar) will have to conduct caste census in Bihar, we will not give you any relaxation on this. RJD and us (Congress) exerted pressure on him for this. What happened then is that he was pressurised from the other side, because the BJP doesn't want an X-ray of this country to be done," Gandhi stated.
Reports also suggest that Kumar had been working to bring together opposition parties and had hoped to lead the INDIA Bloc. He also reportedly had ambitions to be the prime ministerial candidate in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, when he learned that Kharge would be the chairman of the bloc, he was reportedly furious and decided to leave.