Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of joining hands with communal forces for his personal politics.
“The mandate was given to Nitishji for an anti-communal fight but now he has joined hands with them [the Bharatiya Janata Party] for his personal politics,” Mr. Gandhi said.
Mr. Kumar was sworn in on Thursday morning at the head of a Janata Dal-United (JD-U)-BJP government in Patna.
Mr. Gandhi also said he had been aware for the last few months that Mr. Kumar was hobnobbing with communal forces: “We knew three to four months ago that such planning was going on.” When a person could go to any extent to remain in power, it showed a lack of credibility, Mr. Gandhi said.
Meanwhile, Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Sujewala described Mr. Kumar's joining of hands with the BJP to remain in power as a 
“a black day" for Indian democracy.
Pointing out that Mr Kumar had pledged never to join hands with the BJP, he alleged that Mr. Kumar’s “mask of big talk and self-professed honesty” stood exposed, with his sole principle being “power at any cost, power at all cost”.
Prime Minister Modi, Mr. Surjewala recalled, had questioned Mr. Kumar's “political DNA” ahead of the 2015 State polls. “It has been proved today that the political DNA of the BJP and the JD(U) is identical — opportunism, treachery, hunger for power and disregard of people's mandate,” he said.