Nitish Kumar’s Exit Will Have ‘Absolutely No Impact’ On INDIA Bloc: Jairam Ramesh

Jairam Ramesh derided Nitish Kumar by calling the Bihar CM “Aaya Kumar, Gaya Kumar”.

Nitish Kumar And INDIA Bloc: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday said that the departure of JD(U) and its chief Nitish Kumar will have “absolutely no impact” on the opposition bloc INDIA.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had on Sunday left the “Mahagathbandhan” in the state and pan-India INDIA bloc formed by the opposition parties to take on the BJP-led NDA.

Jairam Ramesh, while talking to the media in Kishanganj, Bihar during the Congress’ ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, derided Nitish Kumar by calling the Bihar CM “Aaya Kumar, Gaya Kumar”.

“It will not have any impact on the INDIA alliance, absolutely no impact. This is typical of Nitish Kumar. It is not ‘Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram’, it is ‘Aaya Kumar, Gaya Kumar’,” said Ramesh on Kumar aligning with the BJP-led NDA as he alleged that “Kumar’s betrayal” was “masterminded by the prime minister”.

“When ‘Bharat Jodo Nayay Yatra’ started on January 14 from Manipur’s Thoubal, PM Modi found the ‘muhurat’ to sway Milind Deora from the Congress so that the headlines become ‘Milind Deora’ instead of ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’,” he alleged.

“They (BJP) were stressed with Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’s entry to Bihar. So, they asked the ‘flipping master’ (referring to Nitish Kumar) to do a flip and he did that,” he said.

Ramesh further claimed that the Congress got a tremendous response from the people of Kishanganj after the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ reached the district on Monday morning.

Kumar on Sunday took oath as the chief minister of Bihar for a record ninth time after a dramatic volte-face, ditching the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ and the opposition bloc INDIA and forming a new government with the BJP, which he had dumped less than 18 months ago.

Kumar was sworn in by Bihar Governor Rajendra Arlekar at Raj Bhavan in the presence of senior leaders including BJP national president J P Nadda, hours after he resigned from the post, saying “things were not working well” for him in the Grand Alliance and the opposition bloc.

BJP leaders Samrat Choudhary and former Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha were among those who took the oath of office. The two are named as Deputy Chief Ministers.

JD(U) members Vijendra Yadav and Shrawan Kumar also took oath apart from former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustan Awam Morcha’s Santosh Kumar Suman and independent legislator Sumit Singh.

Kumar’s latest crossover, his fifth in a little over a decade, capped days of high political drama and blame game. It is also seen as a big setback for the opposition unity ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

(With PTI inputs)