'There is nothing left in INDIA bloc': Union Minister Ramdas Athawale

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Monday hit out at the INDIA bloc formed to take on the Narendra Modi-led Centre in the upcoming general elections, foreseeing a brief existence for the opposition bloc with the Congress remaining the only party in the group.

Speaking to ANI, the Union Minister said that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, one of the biggest faces in the bloc, had also left the INDIA bloc a day before.

"Nitish Kumar was one of the biggest faces of the INDIA alliance, but he joined the NDA. Mamata Banerjee has announced that TMC will contest all seats of West Bengal. AAP wants to fight alone in Punjab... AAP will fight alone in Haryana as well. There is nothing left in the INDIA alliance... In the end, only Congress will remain..." he said.

On Sunday, Nitish Kumar took the oath as Chief Minister of Bihar for the ninth time in Raj Bhawan, Patna, switching sides again, this time with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

JDU leader Nitish Kumar's move to end his alliance with the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal to revive his tie-up with the BJP comes as a massive setback to the INDIA bloc months before it takes on the formidable BJP in Lok Sabha polls.

Nitish Kumar, after parting ways with the BJP in 2022, took on the initiative of uniting all opposition forces to jointly take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling party in the national election.

It was for the second time in two years that Nitish Kumar had jumped the ship, his fifth crossover in a little over a decade, preceding his ninth time as chief minister.

(ANI)