'Bihar too small for you, enter national politics': Congress asks Nitish Kumar to leave BJP

Digvijaya Singh said the BJP had reduced the stature of Nitish Kumar and brought an end to the legacy of late Ram Vilas Paswan

After the Grand Alliance lost the Bihar assembly elections by a whisker, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday extended an olive branch to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, asking him to dump the BJP and play a national role in uniting socialist and secular forces.

Singh's offer was rejected outright by JD(U) and downplayed by the Congress, which said it had reconciled to the defeat and looked forward to playing constructive opposition.

Singh’s outreach to Nitish came a day after BJP-JD(U) pulled off a nail-biting victory in the Bihar assembly elections, defeating the Congress-RJD Grand Alliance. The BJP-JD(U), which contested the polls under Nitish’s leadership, won a slender majority by bagging 125 seats in a 243-member assembly.

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“Leave the BJP/RSS. Save the country from ruin. Remember, the Janata Party was split on the issue of dual membership of the RSS,” the two-term former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said.

In a series of tweets, Singh said the BJP had reduced the stature of Nitish Kumar and brought an end to the legacy of late Ram Vilas Paswan through its political tactics.

He said Nitish Kumar should himself propose the name of RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav for the post of Chief Minister and JD(U) leaders can choose to become deputy chief minister or can take up any other post they want.

Also read — Bihar election: How Nitish Kumar won despite losing seats​​​​​​​

“Nitish ji, Bihar has become small for you. You should now enter national politics. You should help unite all those who believe in socialist and secular ideals and not allow the policy of divide and rule of the Sangh, which was nurtured by the British, to thrive. Do consider,” said Singh, a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC).

Congress sources downplayed Singh's remarks and ruled out the possibility of a 'Maharashtra formula' in Bihar.

A Congress functionary said BJP leaders were showing due respect to Nitish Kumar, visiting him at his residence and greeting him, unlike in Maharashtra where BJP had made no efforts to reach out to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.

While offering an invite to Nitish Kumar to unite secular and socialist forces at the national level, Singh said Rahul Gandhi was the only leader who was fighting the ideological battle in the country.