Appreciate Nitish’s efforts for oppn unity; can’t trust KCR, Kejriwal: Cong

PTI, May 28, 2023, 8:51 AM IST

The Congress on Saturday said it has high regard for the efforts of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to bring opposition parties together but was ”still not able to trust” leaders such as Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal.

AICC spokesperson Alok Sharma alleged that these leaders had ”helped BJP in the last eight-nine years”.

”With a full sense of responsibility, as an official spokesperson of the Congress, I assert that we are still not able to trust Kejriwal and KCR,” Sharma told reporters at Sadaqat Ashram, the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) headquarters.

To buttress his point, he underscored the Delhi CM’s support for the now withdrawn farm bills, besides raking up the AAP founder calling for ”arrest” of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to bust corruption.

Nonetheless, he added, ”We leave it to the discretion of Nitish babu. He may decide whom to take along.” The Congress is the third largest constituent of Bihar’s ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’, which Kumar, the JD(U) supremo, joined after quitting the BJP-led NDA.

Sharma also claimed that the NDA was in the tatters with former BJP allies either parting ways or accusing the saffron party of ”backstabbing”, while the Congress-led UPA, which has been out of power since 2014, ”has remained intact, and even added some new constituents”.

The AICC spokesman, who released the Congress’ ”seven years, seven questions” document in Bihar, also charged the Narendra Modi government with harming the state by its policies.

”The state’s youngsters performed well in exams conducted by UPSC and SSC, both of which have been forced to reduce recruitment. Armed forces have been a popular career option here, a reason why Bihar saw the most vehement protests against the Agnipath scheme,” he added.