Patna: Taking a dig at INDIA ally, Congress, Janata Dal-United (JDU) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said that the Congress was "busy with the state assembly elections" in five states and not very keen on taking the INDIA bloc forward.
While addressing the Communist Party of India's (CPI) 'BJP Hatao, Desh Bachao' rally in Patna, CM Nitish Kumar said, "Yes, we constituted an Alliance but the work to strengthen it is not actively happening right now. Elections are about to happen in five states and the Congress party is more interested in that it seems. We all were working together to help strengthen the Congress party and take it forward but they don't seem to be as keen. Congress is busy with the assembly polls in five states now."
Nitish Kumar asserted that the bloc won't stop the fight for the country and added that the meetings of the coalition will resume once the elections in five states are over.
He further said, "We conducted meetings in Patna as well as other places. We named the coalition INDIA which means Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance. Congress party is now occupied with the assembly elections, but we won't stop the fight.
Five states- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram- will go to polls on different days from November 7-30, while the counting of the votes in these five states is scheduled on December 3.
The election dates for the five states are as follows: Mizoram on November 7, Chhattisgarh on November 7 and November 17, Madhya Pradesh on November 17, Rajasthan on November 25, and Telangana on November 30.
These elections will set the stage for the 2024 general election. According to the Chief Election Commissioner, nearly 16 crore voters are eligible to vote in these elections. (with ANI inputs)
