Spurned by Nitish, Cong has no where to go

Kolkata: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has clearly become the most-wanted politician in Indian politics, being wooed by the Congress and adopted by the BJP. But Congress, not happy with him spurning their advances, is now bitter and says Nitish thinks "too much of himself".

Congress spokesperson Moily had harsh words for Nitish who rebuffed the party's cosying up tactics. Moily said Nitish "thinks too much of himself and will regret staying with BJP. We are not reaching out to him," he said.

Meanwhile, the spat between Congress and and its partners in the government, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), went up a notch on Friday, with the Congress spokesperson accusing them of "insulting" it over seat-sharing in Bihar.

"We should be more angry. We never wronged them... It's only Paswan (Ram Vilas Paswan of LJP) and Laluji (Lalu Prasad of RJD) for reasons best known to them, they left us only two seats," Moily told reporters here.

The RJD and LJP chiefs, key members of the Congress-led UPA seem to be annoyed over Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi's praise of Nitish Kumar.

The Congress' ties with the RJD as well as the LJP have been strained to the breaking point over seat-sharing in Bihar. Rahul Gandhi's comments about Nitish Kumar added to the tensions.

"They left us only two out of 40 seats in Bihar. A national party like the Congress party can't gulp this kind of insult," said Moily.

WE ARE STILL WITH UPA: PASWAN

But Lalu and Paswan say they still are a part of the UPA. In Kolkata, Paswan said he was skipping the cabinet meeting as he had a previously scheduled election meeting in the West Bengal capital. "Moreover, there was no agenda of my ministry (in the cabinet meeting)," he added.

Denying any tensions over Rahul Gandhi's remarks on Nitish Kumar, Paswan said: "The Congress has already clarified what Rahulji wanted to say. I am with the UPA. LJP, RJD is with the UPA. And we will remain with UPA."

The steel minister added that any overtures by the Congress and the Left to Nitish Kumar will be unsuccessful. "What is the reality? Nitish kumar is with the BJP. And if anybody wants to talk with Nitish, then first he has to leave the BJP. I don't think that he will leave BJP."

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad too asserted that Nitish Kumar's commitment to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was "impeccable" as they had been together for over 15 years.

"(His) commitment to NDA is impeccable. His commitment to make (L.K.) Advani prime minister is very strong. But, the Left is sending love letters to him. Rahul is also giving him gift certificates. This is political hypocrisy at its worst," he told reporters.

He described Paswan and Lalu Prasad's refusal to attend the cabinet meet as a "sign of desperation".

"UPA has finally conclusively become the ulta pulta alliance," he said.