Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Sep 30: Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Digvijaya Singh differed over Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's 2024 exit from the INDIA bloc during a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), according to party sources.
The exchange took place as the CWC discussed the Congress's political strategy and its ongoing confrontation with the Election Commission over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
According to the sources, Digvijaya Singh said the Congress should not have allowed Nitish Kumar to leave the INDIA bloc and suggested that the political situation could have been different had he remained with the opposition alliance.
Sonia Gandhi reportedly took a different view, saying it was fortunate that Kumar had left and alleging that he had been looking for a way to exit the alliance. She also alleged that Kumar was being controlled by the BJP.
Nitish Kumar left the Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar in January 2024 and joined hands with the BJP to form a new government. He subsequently took oath as Bihar chief minister for the ninth time.
The discussion comes ahead of an INDIA bloc meeting scheduled for Wednesday, where opposition parties are expected to discuss a joint strategy on the SIR exercise and their concerns regarding the Election Commission.
At its September 29 meeting, the CWC adopted resolutions demanding an immediate halt to the SIR exercise, restoration of 13.3 crore names that the party claims were removed from electoral rolls, and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The Congress also demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, linking the demands to its allegations concerning the functioning of the Election Commission and the electoral-roll revision process. These are demands and allegations made by the Congress; the Election Commission has maintained that its decisions have legal sanction and that differences during internal deliberations are normal.
The CWC meeting was attended by senior Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The Congress has said it will continue to raise the SIR issue in Parliament, the courts and through public protests until its concerns regarding the Election Commission are addressed.