K C Tyagi: ‘Nitish walked out of INDIA as Cong conspired to finish off regional parties’

On a day Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar snapped his ties with the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) and rejoined the BJP-led NDA, JD(U) national spokesperson and political advisor K C Tyagi speaks to The Indian Express on a range of issues related to Nitish’s move and its ramifications for the Opposition INDIA bloc. Excerpts:

Why has Nitish Kumar walked out of the INDIA bloc and rejoined the NDA?

The attitude of the Congress from day one had not been very positive. We came out of the NDA with 16 MPs in 2022, not to gain anything but to contribute. At that time there was no positive mention of the Congress anywhere in the country and talks about a Third Front were on with (West Bengal CM) Mamataji, (Delhi CM Arvind) Kejriwal, (BRS chief) K Chandrasekhar Rao and (SP chief) Akhilesh Yadav as the “sutradhars” (anchors). In September 2022, a large number of Opposition leaders had gathered in Hisar to mark Chaudhary Devi Lal’s birth anniversary. It was here Kumar demolished all talks of a Third Front, saying there can be no Front without the Congress. This increased the acceptability of the Congress, a phenomenon which was visible in (the Opposition meeting at) Patna.

Kumar made the impossible possible. Leaders like Kejriwal, Mamata and Akhilesh shared the stage with Rahul Gandhi. This was not possible otherwise. This was our contribution. He (Kumar) then went to meet Sonia Gandhi with Lalu Prasad and asked her to take the lead. However, nothing happened for the next four months. Nitish came back to Delhi, persuaded everyone and took them to Patna for the first meeting of the Opposition.

The chances of fielding one common candidate against the BJP in 400-odd seats and a tough fight were bright after the