Breaking his silence on Nitish Kumar’s about turn and switch to NDA, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday asserted that the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ will continue fighting for social justice in Bihar, and the alliance “does not need Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the cause”.

“The ‘Mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance) will fight for social justice in Bihar; we don’t require Nitish Kumar for that purpose, we don’t require him at all,” the Congress leader said.

He added, “Understand why Nitish Ji got stuck. I told him straight that ‘you will have to conduct caste census in Bihar’. And we (Congress), along with RJD, insisted on Nitish ji conducting the survey. But BJP got scared. They are opposed to this plan. Nitish ji got stuck and BJP provided him the back door to run away!”

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Speaking at a rally in Purnea as his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ entered the district during the day, Gandhi also said Dalits and backward classes don’t get due representation in all sectors of the country, PTI reported.

Kumar on Sunday took oath as the chief minister of Bihar for a record ninth time after a dramatic volte-face, ditching the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ and the opposition bloc INDIA and forming a new government with the BJP, which he had dumped less than 18 months ago.

Congress is a part of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’, which also comprises the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Left parties.

Rahul Gandhi claimed that Nitish Kumar had decided to make a ‘U-turn’ after he succumbed to “a little bit of pressure”.

He cracked a joke over Nitish Kumar’s switching sides again and said, “The Chief Minister went to take oath at Raj Bhavan and after swearing in, he leaves. In the car he realises he forgot his shawl. He tells driver to return. He goes back to Raj Bhavan. Governor says “Why are you back back again, so soon!”

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“A little bit of pressure, and he makes a U-turn,” Rahul Gandhi said, adding, “But why the pressure in the first place? Because our alliance is raising the issues that matter to people.”

“Our country needs a caste-based census to determine the exact population of Dalits, OBCs, tribals and others,” Gandhi told the rally at Ranghbhumi Maidan.

He also invoked Manipur and said that the northeastern state is experiencing an “atmosphere of civil war” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is yet to visit the ethnic strife-torn state.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge, who was scheduled to speak at the rally, could not reach Purnea, as his flight failed to land at the airport due to low visibility, Bihar Congress chief Akhilesh Prasad said.

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Kharge, however, spoke virtually at the public meeting.

Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and CPI(ML)L general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya also addressed the gathering.

The Congress, TMC, AAP and CPI(ML)L are a part of the 28-party opposition bloc INDIA.

(With inputs from PTI)