Nitish Kumar Unlikely To Join Congress' Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra: Report

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a key architect of the INDIA alliance, has declined to participate in the Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' in the state, as reported by NDTV. Congress' legislature party leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan invited Nitish Kumar to join the yatra, but the chief minister remained non-committal about his involvement.

Nitish Kumar's decision not to join the yatra is a significant setback for the Congress. Just the day before, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee announced that she would not join the yatra, citing lack of information and prior commitments in North Bengal. She also declared that TMC would contest independently in Bengal.

In addition to TMC, Bhagwant Mann of AAP stated that the party would contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab without any seat-sharing arrangement with Congress for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

With both TMC and AAP ruling out seat-sharing in their respective states, opposition parties face a challenging task of realigning the INDIA alliance. Nitish Kumar's decision, following Mamata's, deals a severe blow to Congress and the alliance. There is also growing speculation that Nitish may consider leaving the alliance and rejoining the NDA.

On Wednesday, former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi predicted that Nitish would sever ties with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) after January 25. In a cryptic tweet the day before, Manjhi, currently with the NDA, wrote: "Khela Hobe," implying that a significant development was imminent.