Kanhaiya like another Sidhu who would destroy Congress, says RJD

Muzaffarpur (Bihar): Senior RJD leader Shivanand Tiwari on Friday mocked Kanhaiya Kumar's induction into the Congress, saying that the former JNU student is like "another Navjot Singh Sidhu" who would "destroy" the grand old party.

Ridiculing the Congress by calling it a sinking ship, Tiwari added that Kumar's joining won't make any difference to the party.

Referring to the CPI turncoat's statement that "Congress is a big ship that needs to be saved", Tiwari said, "He is just like another Navjot Singh Sidhu who will further destroy the party." "Kanhaiya Kumar's induction won't make any difference. He can't save the party. Congress is a sinking ship and it has no future," the PTI quoted RJD leader as saying.

Quoting RJD sources, the PTI report says that the party is unhappy with the fact that Kumar was inducted into the Congress without consulting the Tejashwi Yadav-led party.

The Congress is a part of the RJD-led opposition alliance Mahagathbandhan that fought the 2020 Bihar assembly elections against the NDA.

Bihar Congress leaders declined to comment on the matter

Earlier, hitting out at the Congress over former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar's induction into the party, the BJP had said it is obvious that all those who have anti-India ideology will join the opposition party as it is "synonymous with divisive and anti-India forces".

Kumar, a CPI leader and former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president, joined the Congress in the presence of Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, while independent Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani extended his support to the Congress ideology and said he would contest the next assembly polls on the party symbol.

Meanwhile, the Congress' Bihar unit has set up a team of observers to assess the ground reality in two Assembly seats where by-election has been announced. The observers need to submit a report to the party's Central leadership.

The by-election for Kusheshwar Asthan in Darbhanga and Tarapur in Munger district is scheduled on October 30 and the result will be declared on November 2. These two seats fell vacant after the demise of sitting members, Shashi Bhushan Hajari of the BJP and Mewalal Chaudhary of the JD-U, respectively, earlier this year.

State Congress chief Madan Mohan Jha said that the decision was taken in the direction of party-state in-charge Bhakta Charan Das.

The development comes as the Rashtriya Janata Dal, which leads the Mahagathbandhan of which Congress is part, has already given an indication of contesting both these seats, setting aside the Congress' claim to one. The RJD blames Congress' dismal performance in the 2020 Assembly polls as the reason for its not winning power.

RJD spokesman Bhai Virendra has already made it clear that the party will contest from these two seats in a bid to win the by-election and give a strong message to the NDA.