Nitish Kumar’s exit from INDIA bloc ‘good riddance’ for Opposition alliance: Mamata

She thinks that the anti-incumbency facing the Nitish-led government would have cost the alliance, says source close to Bengal CM

Mamata Banerjee.: File Photo.

Devadeep Purohit, TT, Calcutta, 27.01.24 : Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s exit from the INDIA bloc would be “good riddance” for the Opposition alliance, a source close to Mamata Banerjee quoted her as saying on Friday evening.

“Didi thinks that if Nitish Kumar leaves the INDIA bloc, which is a certainty now, it would be good riddance,” the source said, citing off-the-record discussions the Trinamul chief had with journalists and close aides at Raj Bhavan on Friday evening. “She thinks that the anti-incumbency facing the Nitish-led government would have cost the alliance.”

The Bengal chief minister was at Raj Bhavan for a meet-and-greet session hosted by governor C.V. Ananda Bose on the occasion of Republic Day.

Although CPM veteran and Left Front chairman Biman Bose attended the event, no one from the BJP or the Congress turned up.

With speculation rife about Nitish rejoining the BJP-led NDA, the future of the INDIA bloc was the hottest topic on the Raj Bhavan lawns. Mamata was asked about it the moment she walked in.

“It will not be a loss for the RJD-Congress (if Nitish walks out of the Bihar Grand Alliance). Had they fought in alliance with the JDU, they wouldn’t have got more than 6 or 7 seats (out of the 40 in Bihar),” Mamata was quoted as saying.

Sources close to the Bengal chief minister claimed she had always harboured doubts about Nitish’s commitment to the Opposition bloc, and this was why she had opposed his appointment as convener of the fledgling alliance.

“The BJP had hatched a plan to get Nitish appointed INDIA convener and then co-opt him into the NDA. Didi was aware of this plan, that’s why she was opposing his appointment as convener,” a source close to Mamata said.

“Nitish wasn’t made convener because of Didi’s objections.... Her views were endorsed by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav.”

Ironically, it’s a meeting between Mamata and Nitish that had paved the way for the formation of the INDIA grouping, which held its first meeting in Patna with the Bihar chief minister playing host.

When Mamata was asked on Friday evening whether a U-turn by Nitish would hand a big advantage to the BJP, she evaded a direct reply. “Whatever the situation, I will always fight the BJP,” she reportedly said.

Mamata also commented on the dynamics between Trinamul and the Congress, both INDIA constituents, in Bengal. She apparently reaffirmed that she had been kept in the dark about the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’s schedule for Bengal.

On the possibility of Mamata and Rahul Gandhi coming face to face during the next leg of the Yatra in Bengal — perhaps in Malda or Murshidabad, going by their schedules — the chief minister reportedly joked that she would offer tea to the Congress leader.

However, Mamata, who said earlier this week that Trinamul would go it alone in Bengal, adopted an icy tone when asked about possible seat sharing with the Congress in Bengal.

“We had offered them two seats even before the first meetings of the alliance took place, but I was told they had rejected the proposal,” the Trinamul chief was quoted as saying.

“If the alliance is not working in Bengal, the onus lies solely on them (the Congress) — they are responsible.”

A contest between Trinamul and the Congress in Bengal would, however, not jeopardise the overall equilibrium in the INDIA bloc, the chief minister reportedly explained. She referred to the AAP-Congress equations over Delhi and Punjab.

“They are sharing seats in Delhi but fighting in Punjab — no problem,” a source quoted Mamata as saying.

The Bengal chief minister said that like-minded Opposition parties could always come together after the elections to prevent a BJP-led government being formed at the Centre.