New Delhi: A discussion on the Congress’s strategy against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the BJP took an unexpected turn during the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Tuesday, after senior leader Digvijaya Singh raised the issue of Nitish Kumar’s exit from the INDIA bloc.

According to sources cited by NDTV, Singh said during the meeting that the opposition alliance should not have allowed Janata Dal (United) chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to leave in 2024.

“The political situation would have been different,” Singh reportedly said.

Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi is said to have rejected the suggestion, arguing that Kumar was likely to leave the alliance regardless.

According to sources, Gandhi said Kumar did not want to remain with the INDIA bloc and had been looking for a way to exit. She reportedly told the meeting that it was better that he left when he did.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also backed Gandhi’s assessment, according to the sources. Kharge said Kumar had been looking for a way out of the alliance and described his reported interest in becoming the INDIA bloc’s convenor as a “charade”.

Kharge reportedly said Kumar had earlier told him that he wanted to remain active in Bihar politics while supporting the INDIA bloc at the national level.

Why did Nitish Kumar leave the INDIA bloc?

Nitish Kumar formally left the INDIA bloc on January 28, 2024, when he resigned as chief minister of the Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar and returned to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Kumar had played a key role in bringing several opposition parties together before the formation of the INDIA bloc. However, reports at the time suggested that differences over seat-sharing and the delay in appointing a convenor contributed to his decision to leave.

There were also reports of growing differences between Kumar and other INDIA bloc leaders, including the Congress.

The situation further changed after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal proposed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as the INDIA bloc’s chairman and potential prime ministerial face for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Kumar subsequently returned to the NDA ahead of the general election.

What did Nitish Kumar say about his exit?

After leaving the alliance, Kumar said he had been disappointed by the lack of progress within the INDIA bloc.

He said he had made efforts to bring opposition parties together and build a functioning alliance, but felt that other members were not doing enough.

Kumar also said the alliance had failed to meet his expectations and that the situation was creating dissatisfaction within his own party.

His exit came just months before the 2024 Lok Sabha election and raised questions over the opposition alliance’s unity and strategy.