TIL Desk/National/Patna/ Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi is believed to have warned his party leaders against targeting Congress ally and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to calm the waters within the Mahagathbandhan.
Rahul’s gesture was reciprocated by CM Nitish who hinted that he will go with the Opposition in the forthcoming vice-presidential election. Media reports suggested that Rahul instructed his leaders not to criticise the Bihar Chief Minister.
Bihar Congress president Ashok Choudhary confirmed that he had a meeting with Gandhi earlier this week in Delhi but refused to divulge the details. The reports said that Gandhi, during his meeting with Choudhary, hinted that action would be taken against leaders issuing statements against Kumar.
Rahul was on a vacation when the Congress-JD(U) spat broke out. Senior Congress leader Gulam Nabi Azad was the first to target Nitish when Bihar CM extended support to the National Democratic Alliance’s candidate, Ram Nath Kovind, for the Presidential election. Azad had alleged that Nitish wanted to ensure the defeat of ‘Bihar ki Beti’ Meira Kumar.
People having one ideology take one decision while those with many ideologies take different decisions, Azad had said, apparently referring to JD (U)’s long association with BJP. Some state leaders of the Congress subsequently attacked Kumar, who returned the fire by questioning Congress’s shift from the ideologies of Mahatama Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
