Yet another stinging setback for Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: The resignation of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has come as another blow to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.  His interventions and efforts to persuade Mr Kumar to stick with the grand alliance has failed with the Bihar chief minister returning to the NDA fold.

Mr Gandhi had reportedly supported Mr Kumar’s demand that Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, the son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, must resign over corruption charges. But, he failed to convince Mr Lalu Yadav to make his son step down. The RJD chief made it categorically clear to Mr Gandhi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi that his son was “not going to quit”.

Hit by repeated failures electorally, and the inability to keep the Opposition unified, the Congress’ attempts to make Mr Gandhi the face of the Opposition during the 2019 polls could get tricky. With Mr Kumar crossing over to the BJP, the Opposition will find the going tough during the genral elections.

This is the latest in a string of setbacks for the Congress, from the disastrous tie-up with the SP in the UP polls to former Gujarat CM Shankersinh Vaghela quitting the party before the upcoming Assembly polls.

In  poll bound Himachal Pradesh, the tainted Congress chief minister, Veer Bhadra Singh has refused to toe the party line and step down.

Sources in the Congress said that despite Mr Gandhi’s “failures”, the party “has  no option” but to continue with him.