Nitish exit setback, INDIA bloc needs common agenda, says Sanjay Singh

‘Congress should declare candidates in Delhi soon so that campaign can start’

AAM AADMI Party Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh, who was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the Delhi excise case, Saturday said the departure of Nitish Kumar from the INDIA bloc was a major setback, adding that history would not judge him kindly. In an interview with the The Indian Express, he also said the Opposition alliance must prepare a common minimum programme ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Singh was a key member in alliance discussions before his arrest in October last year. At that time the Janata Dal (United) president and Bihar Chief Minister was a vocal anti-bjp leader.

Asked what the biggest setback faced by the INDIA bloc so far was, Singh said: “Nitish Kumar ji’s departure was completely unexpected. He was going from one place to another to bring opposition parties together and he then joined NDA. Switching positions in this manner impacts your image. You may be able to get power and some benefits in the short term, I don’t deny that. But if you switch sides over and over again, history will not judge you kindly. You can be remembered either as a coward or as courageous.”

“We have to decide what we want to be remembered as. I don’t think those who once spoke out against the BJP and have now bowed down before it will be remembered well,” he said.

Asked about the breakdown of talks between the bloc and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said there was a “world of a difference” between the Trinamool Congress chief and Nitish Kumar.

“She is doing everything possible to stand against BJP. She is

not with BJP. There is a world of difference between the two. The result in Bengal will be good. The INDIA bloc will also benefit from it,” he said.

Singh, who walked out of Tihar Jail Wednesday, has had a steady stream of visitors over the past few days. On Saturday, a line of supporters gathered outside his door at the party office, lending it a buzz that has been missing over the past three to four weeks.

Speaking about the message that AAP and the INDIA bloc want to give to the people before they go out to vote, Singh said that there was a need to sit together and prepare a common minimum programme.

“In Delhi, the Congress should declare candidates soon so that the campaign can start in all earnest. We also need to sit together and formulate a common minimum programme, required wherein it is made clear that these are the five or 10 or 20 things that will happen if we are voted to power. There is also a need to fully support the other party in its campaign,” he said.

Singh, a founding member of AAP, said the party’s priority is to tell the people that the arrest of party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was a “deep conspiracy”. “They (BJP leaders) talk about ethics after having done all these unethical acts. This action is not against graft but to break governments,” he said.

After his release, Singh’s first stop was Kejriwal’s house where he met the CM’S wife, Sunita. Rejecting speculation that she maybe made the cm, singh said it has been made clear thatkejriw al will remain at the post. He, however, said her role was prominent and “growing” in the party as her husband’s “messenger”.