No pro-Nitish remarks, Congress tells Bihar leaders

PATNA: The central leadership of Congress has cautioned its Bihar leaders not to issue statements in support of CM Nitish Kumar.

The word of caution comes close on the heels of few Congress MLAs issuing statements that Nitish’s return to Grand Alliance (GA) would help it defeat BJP. In this connection, state Congress’s officiating president Kaukab Quadri convened a meeting at the party’s state HQ on Tuesday, which was also attended by AICC secretary Rajesh Lilothia. The meeting decided that party leaders would exercise restraint while speaking on matters related to the possibility of Nitish’s return to GA, seat-sharing arrangement with RJD and the CM face of GA in the upcoming election.

“The BJP is trying to create a rift between the Congress and RJD. Congress leaders should remain cautious while making statements on issues that are decided by the party’s central leadership,” Quadri told TOI.

He said Congress’s in-charge of the Bihar affairs Shaktisinh Gohil was also against party leaders jumping the gun and giving statements different from the party line.

Quadri also said Nitish should clear his stand. “Nitish and PM Narendra Modi boast of providing a “double engine” government in Bihar, but both are working in opposite directions due to which development eludes the state,” he said.

AICC secretary and Kadwa MLA Shakeel Ahmad Khan had last week snubbed RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s younger son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, saying he did not have the locus standi to say that the GA doors were closed for Nitish.

Congress’s Barbigha MLA Sudarshan Kumar told reporters on Monday that RJD should understand that Nitish’s return to GA would ensure the BJP’s defeat. Party’s Bahadurganj MLA Tausif Alam has also gone on record to say that Nitish was welcome in GA.

Courtesy: TNN