Turbulence hits INDIA as Rahul presses for Mamata nod on naming Nitish convenor

An inadvertent slip-up by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi during the virtual meeting of INDIA bloc leaders, on Saturday (January 13), has left not just Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar but also the RJD’s Lalu Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav fuming. Though sources close to Nitish and the Yadav father-son duo told The Federal that it is premature to predict how their parties would engage with the Congress on the ongoing INDIA bloc seat-sharing talks in light of Saturday’s “disturbing development”, they said it is now for the Grand Old Party “to make urgent amends if it wants the alliance to succeed”.

Saturday’s virtual meeting, which was attended by the top leadership of the Congress, JD(U), RJD, NCP, DMK, AAP, CPM, CPI, and the National Conference, among other INDIA bloc leaders, saw a consensus emerging among the attendees on naming Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as the Opposition group’s chairperson and Nitish as its convenor. The discussion, albeit a brief one, on the two appointments began with CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury proposing that Kharge and Nitish be named the bloc’s chairperson and convenor, respectively.

The Mamata hurdle

None of those attending the meeting objected to the two names. However, what left the Bihar chief minister, as well as Lalu and Tejashwi red-faced, was Rahul’s suggestion that any formal announcement to this effect must be made only after securing the concurrence of Trinamool Congress Mamata Banerjee, who had decided against joining Saturday’s discussion and didn’t depute any party colleague for it either.

The mercurial Banerjee, who has been giving the Congress a tough time over seat-sharing negotiations in Bengal, is learnt to be on board for naming Kharge as the bloc’s chairperson — she had previously suggested that Kharge should be declared the alliance’s PM face — but is reportedly opposed to having Nitish as INDIA convenor. Sources said other key INDIA bloc leaders, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray, who had also skipped Saturday’s meetings citing prior commitments, have no objection to Kharge and Nitish being named the alliance’s chairperson and convenor, respectively.

Nitish upset with Congress

Sources close to the JD(U) chief told The Federal that while he is indifferent to Banerjee’s objection (the reasons for which are still unclear) to his appointment as INDIA convenor, Nitish’s anger on Saturday was directed at the Congress, and more particularly, at Rahul. That Nitish has been eying a “clearly defined” role within the Opposition bloc ever since he made the first moves of bringing parties such as Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP and, ironically, even Banerjee’s Trinamool, into the INDIA fold last June, is well known. However, despite four conclaves of the alliance in Patna, Bengaluru, Bombay, and Delhi, the bloc has not named him convenor, leading to carefully orchestrated outbursts by sundry JD(U) leaders against the Congress and the alliance.

What appears to have irked the Bihar CM afresh and has not gone down well with the RJD leadership — the JD(U) and the RJD are key allies in Bihar’s ruling coalition, with the Congress being a minor partner — were developments that took place between Friday night and Saturday’s INDIA bloc meeting. Sources in the two parties told The Federal that, as preparation for Saturday’s meeting, the Congress leadership had spoken to Nitish, Lalu, and Tejashwi on Friday night.

“It was decided that we will name the chairperson and convenor after Saturday’s meeting concludes, based on the majority view and irrespective of Mamata’s objection to Nitish. The appointment of Nitish as convenor, the JD(U) and RJD leadership was given to understand, had already been discussed by Kharge with most INDIA bloc leaders and none had any objections to it. It was decided that given the little time we now have before the Lok Sabha polls, we must not delay this matter further and that, as per the majority view within INDIA, Kharge will be declared as the alliance chairperson with Nitish Kumar as convenor once the virtual meeting ends,” a source close to the Bihar CM said.

“Insult to Nitish”

It is in light of this assurance that what happened during Saturday’s meeting left Nitish feeling “humiliated” and also evoked strong consternation from the RJD. “When Yechury asked if we were making the announcement (of the chairperson and convenor) today, Rahul suddenly said we must first get Mamata Banerjee on board about Nitish ji’s appointment. This was not the understanding we had reached on Friday night. It was an insult to Nitish ji, and even Lalu ji and Tejashwi told the Congress bluntly after the meeting that the party shouldn’t take existing allies for granted in the hope of securing an alliance with someone (read: Banerjee) who has been the least cooperative partner in the INDIA alliance and has, most likely, decided an independent electoral trajectory for her party,” a senior JD (U) leader close to Nitish told The Federal.

Nitish, on his part, is learnt to have told Rahul at the meeting that “there was no point in discussing these appointments” if there was no consensus and that “groundwork (for the consensus) should have been completed before calling the meeting”. Sources said though Nitish “wholeheartedly supported” Kharge’s name for the group’s chairperson and reiterated his commitment to the alliance, he also made it clear that he was peeved at the sluggish pace with which the alliance was moving forward.

New faultlines

Congress sources The Federal spoke to predictably denied any gaffe by Rahul and glossed over Nitish’s “refusal” to accept the convenor’s post but said Kharge would urgently reach out to Banerjee and other alliance leaders who were not present at Saturday’s discussion to ensure that the Bihar CM is “given his due respect and position” in the INDIA bloc. Sources said INDIA partners such as NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and AAP’s Kejriwal may also be roped in to reach out to Banerjee regarding Nitish’s appointment as INDIA convenor.

After Saturday’s meeting, Kharge may have claimed on X that the discussions were “fruitful” and that “everyone is happy that the seat-sharing talks are progressing in a positive way” but the INDIA bloc’s refusal to officially declare even his appointment as its chairperson, despite a consensus, betrayed new faultlines that have now emerged within the already unsteady grouping.

Sources close to the top leadership of the JD(U) and the RJD told The Federal that “unless the Congress urgently sets things in order, we may be left with no choice but to chart our own course”.

Altered alliance?

It is learnt that though Lalu and Tejashwi have implored Nitish to “not act in haste”, the RJD leaders too are “losing patience” with the Congress, and Saturday’s developments “could rapidly deteriorate equations in the Bihar alliance if Kharge and Rahul do not urgently pacify Nitish”. Sources close to Nitish also said that though speculations of him returning into an alliance with the BJP are “wholly unfounded and baseless”, the inability of the Congress to keep the Bihar CM in good humour could end up “forcing the JD(U) and RJD to explore a Bihar specific alliance that is not under the INDIA banner”.

Nitish and Tejashwi, it is learnt, are “not averse” to exploring the electoral feasibility of an “altered mahagathbandhan (grand alliance)” that includes the JD(U), the RJD, the CPI-ML, and the CPI but not the Congress, “unless the Congress gives Nitish a good enough reason to stay in the INDIA bloc”.

Meanwhile, the Congress’s seat-sharing talks with Banerjee, who Rahul was eager to keep in the loop regarding INDIA bloc decisions, have remained at an impasse with the Trinamool unwilling to offer the Congress any more than three of Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha seats.