Patna: Shortly after the Janata Dal (United) (JDU) withdrew from the Opposition's grand alliance and rejoined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), KC Tyagi, a senior leader of the JDU, strongly criticized the Congress, alleging that the party sought to "steal" the leadership of the INDIA bloc through a "conspiracy." Tyagi claimed that the Congress, in the December 19 meeting in Delhi, proposed the name of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge as the Prime Ministerial face, deviating from the earlier decision made during the Mumbai meeting where it was unanimously agreed to contest the Lok Sabha elections without a PM face.

Tyagi accused Congress of attempting to take over the leadership of the INDIA alliance, stating, "Congress wanted to steal the leadership of the INDIA alliance. In the meeting that took place on 19th December, through a conspiracy, to get the leadership of INDIA alliance, Mallikarjun Kharge's name was proposed (as PM face). Earlier in the meeting that took place in Mumbai, it was unanimously decided that without any PM face, INDIA alliance will work...through a conspiracy, Mamata Banerjee was made to propose Kharge's name as PM face."

He further claimed that Congress prolonged the seat-sharing talks, sidelining the urgency of the matter. According to Tyagi, the delay in seat-sharing discussions hindered the formation of effective plans against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and other parties emphasized the necessity for prompt seat allocation.

In response, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge acknowledged that he knew about Nitish Kumar's intention to exit the alliance, attributing it to the prevalence of opportunistic politics, stating, "There are many people in the country like 'Aaya Ram-Gaya Ram.' If he wanted to stay, he would have stayed, but he wants to go. That's why we already knew this, but to keep the INDIA bloc intact, if we say something wrong, the wrong message will be sent." Kharge revealed that Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav had informed them of Nitish Kumar's decision.

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