New Delhi, July 27: Rahul Gandhi today said he had for the past 3-4 months been aware of what Nitish Kumar was "up to" and regretted that some politicians "can do anything for power".

"You get to know, in politics, what is in a leader's mind. I could clearly see for the last 3-4 months what Nitish was up to, that he had done this planning," the Congress vice-president told reporters outside Parliament shortly after Nitish was sworn in as Bihar chief minister with BJP support.

"This is the problem in India's politics: people can do anything for power and self-interest. There is no rule, no credibility." Rahul's remark invited the question whether, since he claims to have known about Nitish's "planning", he had made any attempt to dissuade or pre-empt him. Asked about Rahul's "failure" on this front, Congress communications chief Randeep Surjewala said questions should be put to those who "cheat and betray" and not to Rahul.

"We trusted him (Nitish) even when he was hobnobbing with the BJP, thinking he was honest enough to honour his words (about his commitment to fighting the BJP)," he said.

Although some Congress insiders are privately blaming Rahul and Lalu Prasad for the alliance's collapse, senior Congress strategists endorsed Rahul's views. They said a majority of Opposition leaders suspected Nitish's intentions and had privately discussed the possibility of his crossing over to the NDA, and even spoken to JDU veteran Sharad Yadav on it. However, they said, no "pre-emptive" measure was possible as Nitish kept stressing his commitment to a united fight against the BJP.

"The seeds of suspicion were sown when Nitish backed demonetisation. We gave him the benefit of doubt, but everybody saw a hidden game plan when he supported the BJP's presidential candidate," a senior Congress politician told The Telegraph.

"When he opted out of the Opposition's lunch and attended one the Prime Minister hosted for the Mauritius Premier, we were convinced there was mischief afoot. But how could we have acted on mere suspicion when Nitish asserted there was no question of going back to the BJP?"

Asked whether Rahul had always misread Nitish and given him undue importance while ignoring Lalu, senior politician Anand Sharma said the Congress "maintains good relations with its allies".

"Rahul Gandhi was instrumental in forging the Grand Alliance and we did our best to sustain this experiment. But what can one do if a person says something and does the opposite? You can accuse all of us of error of judgment," Sharma said. "We can now say it was not easy to decipher the 'Nitish mystery'. If he can sell political treachery as moral compulsion and ideological betrayal as commitment to principle, you can understand how seasoned a player he is."

Sharma added: "He (Nitish) has perfected the art of deception and, yes, we failed to see through him for a long time. We had realised he was itching to embrace Narendra Modi over the past few months but what can you do when the purpose is to sustain Opposition unity?"

Congress sources claimed that Nitish had told Rahul he would not compromise on the corruption case against his then deputy, Tejashwi Yadav, but given no hint of his plans to join hands with the BJP.

The Congress leadership had reckoned that Nitish would force the Tejashwi issue with the RJD but had not expected he would walk out on the alliance. So incensed is Rahul that the party's official response contained expressions such as "treachery", "deception", "cheating" and "rank opportunism".

"The truth is that hunger for power has overpowered everything else. The mask of big talk and self-professed honesty stands exposed, with the sole principle being 'power at any cost, power at all costs'," Surjewala said.

Explaining Rahul's apparent inaction in the face of his suspicions about Nitish's intentions, Surjewala said: "The Congress president and vice-president had reposed their faith in Nitish on the basis of the principles he had sworn by during the formation of the Grand Alliance. We trusted him despite his track record of betrayal - of Lalu Prasad, George Fernandes, Sharad Yadav, Jitan Ram Manjhi and, finally, Modi." He added: "Whether Tejashwi is guilty or not will be decided by the courts. If charges are the criterion, half of Modi's cabinet and all the BJP chief ministers should resign. But charges against them are never investigated."

Many in the Congress believe that Opposition politicians' ability to resist blackmail and allurement would be tested severely in the coming months.

The Congress has lost several of its own members in many states. While there have been exoduses in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, key state satraps such as Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), Rita Bahuguna Joshi (Uttar Pradesh) and Shankersinh Vaghela (Gujarat) have left the party at critical junctures.

Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party has lost several frontline politicians to the BJP, while Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and his brother Shivpal seem to have inched closer to the Modi government.

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh today summed up current politics with a couplet: " Usi ko haq hai jeene ka is zamane mein/Jo idhar ka dikhta rahe aur udhar ka ho jaye (They alone survive in these times/Who seem on your side till they join the other)."