New Delhi/Patna:The Janata Dal (United) on Wednesday expressed resentment over the portrayal of its president and former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, asserting that he was the main architect of the opposition INDIA bloc.

While JD(U) national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad alleged that Gandhi has presented the entire episode in her book as part of a strategy to mislead people, the party’s working president Sanjay Kumar Jha alleged the former Congress chief made “petty and frivolous” remarks against Kumar, which was “unexpected”.

“The JD(U) is deeply aggrieved by the way Nitish Kumar has been mentioned in Sonia Gandhi’s book in the context of the INDIA bloc. We believe that Nitish Kumar is the architect and driving force behind the INDIA bloc, which is currently being led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi,” he said in a video statement.

Gandhi has written that Kumar was looking for an opportunity to exit the INDIA bloc and was under the BJP’s influence. She also refers to his return to the NDA in early 2024. Prasad claimed that most regional parties were initially reluctant to include the Congress in the opposition alliance and Kumar had persuaded them to come together with the grand old party.