In her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, Gandhi writes that Kumar was looking for an opportunity to leave the I.N.D.I.A. bloc and was under the BJP's influence.
NEW DELHI: The Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday objected to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's portrayal of its president and former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in her memoir, asserting that he was the architect of the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc.
JD(U) national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad alleged that Gandhi had presented the events surrounding the alliance's formation in a manner intended to mislead readers.
"The JD(U) is deeply aggrieved by the way Nitish Kumar has been mentioned in Sonia Gandhi's book in the context of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc. We believe that Nitish Kumar is the architect and driving force behind the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, which is currently being led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi," he said in a video statement.
In her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, Gandhi writes that Kumar was looking for an opportunity to leave the I.N.D.I.A. bloc and was under the BJP's influence. She also refers to his return to the NDA in early 2024.
Prasad claimed that most regional parties were initially reluctant to include the Congress in the opposition alliance, but Kumar persuaded them to join hands with the party, leading to the alliance's first meeting in Patna.
He said Kumar eventually realised that the INDIA bloc could not effectively challenge the NDA because of the competing ambitions and regional interests of the Congress and its allies.
"The role of the Congress and its allies, their ambitions and regional political interests made it clear that they did not have the capacity to take on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). That is why Nitish Kumar left the I.N.D.I.A. bloc," Prasad said.
Memoir title and the JD(U)'s objections cross-checked against reports published on November 11
