Patna: Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar returned early from the opposition meeting in Bengaluru as he was "upset" over not having been made convener of the new coalition - Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). Kumar's JD(U) hit back, dubbing the former Deputy CM as 'someone who makes ridiculous statements and is not taken seriously even within his party'.


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In a statement issued here, the BJP leader claimed that Kumar deliberately 'skipped the press conference held after the meeting' since he felt slighted over not having been made 'sanyojak' (convener) of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.


He also likened Kumar's early return from Bengaluru to the action of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the last month's opposition meeting here.


The AAP delegation had skipped the press conference after the meet in Patna, and soon afterwards, come out with a statement lashing out at the Congress for not assuring support on the ordinance issue.


"Some of our friends are not present because their return journeys were scheduled," Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said at the press conference in Bengaluru.


Besides Kumar, those not present at the press conference included RJD president Lalu Prasad and his son Tejashwi Yadav, the current Deputy CM of Bihar, both of whom travelled with the chief minister.


The trio returned by the same flight and drove to their respective places, within spitting distance of each other, much to the disappointment of journalists who waited eagerly at the airport for some news bites.


Sushil Modi also alleged that the new acronym INDIA was coined to 'hide bad intentions (khoti niyat)' of the 'anti-Hindu' opposition parties which will get a befitting reply from 'sanskritinishth (culturally rooted) Bharat'.


Meanwhile, senior JD(U) leader and state minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary dismissed the allegation of Sushil Modi whom he accused of making 'ridiculous statements'.


"Sushil Modi is not taken seriously in his own party as is evident from his being sidelined", Chaudhary told PTI, obliquely referring to the BJP leader being unceremoniously dropped as Deputy CM after the 2020 assembly polls.


"He had in the past made outlandish predictions like a split in the JD(U) and merger of our party with RJD. All these predictions have come a cropper. But he is unrelenting in his quest to regain some political relevance. We wish him good luck," Chaudhary alleged.


Setting the tone for their 2024 Lok Sabha campaign, 26 opposition parties on Tuesday formed the coalition - Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) - to unitedly take on the ruling NDA with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asserting that the fight will be "between INDIA and Prime Minister Narendra Modi".


Announcing the name of the opposition bloc at the press conference in Bengaluru after a nearly four-hour-long meeting of the 26 parties, the Congress president said, "We'll fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly and we will come out with great success."


He said a committee of 11 members will be set up for coordination, and a convenor will be selected at the next meeting in Mumbai.