Sonia, Digvijaya clash over Nitish Kumar’s INDIA exit

Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Digvijaya Singh clashed at the Congress Working Committee meeting on Tuesday, 29 September, over Nitish Kumar's 2024 exit from the INDIA bloc. Singh argued the party should not have let him leave, saying the political landscape would have been different if he had been accommodated. Sonia Gandhi countered that Kumar was 'always meant to go there' and had been 'constantly looking for new ways to exit'. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge backed Gandhi, saying Kumar had told him he was not in a position to move out of Bihar.

The exchange came as the CWC discussed the party's escalating confrontation with the Election Commission over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The CWC adopted a resolution demanding the suspension of the revision, restoration of 13.3 crore names it said had been deleted, and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. An INDIA bloc meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, 30 September, to coordinate the opposition's joint response. Meanwhile, JD(U) working president Sanjay Jha claimed that several INDIA bloc members had wanted a Congress-less front, countering Sonia's version.