Mumbai: Amid fissures in INDIA bloc after the West Bengal and Tamil Nadu assembly poll results, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said TMC chief Mamata Banerjee was the first to say at a meeting of the opposition alliance that then Bihar CM Nitish Kumar would leave the grouping when his name was recommended as its convener. He said she had warned that Nitish had already sealed a deal with BJP. Raut said Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray had called Mamata after the polls. “Rahul Gandhi has also spoken. There are many INDIA bloc leaders who have spoken to her. We will now have to struggle harder… INDIA bloc is always with Mamataji.” —Chaitanya Marpakwar
