Congress fields dissident RJD candidate against Lalu

The Congress Wednesday upped the ante and fielded against RJD chief Lalu Prasad a dissident MP who had been campaigning for him in Bihar's Patliputra constituency just last week.

The Congress Wednesday upped the ante and fielded against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad a dissident MP who had been campaigning for him in Bihar's Patliputra constituency just last week.

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Bihar Congress president Anil Kumar Sharma announced Wednesday that the party had nominated Vijay Singh Yadav as the Congress candidate in the largely rural Patliputra constituency, which will go to polls on May 7.

Ironically, it was Vijay Singh Yadav who had declared that Lalu Prasad would contest from Patliputra as well as Saran, which the railway minister currently represents in the Lok Sabha.

And till last week, Vijay Singh Yadav was seen campaigning for Lalu Prasad in Patliputra.

The Congress had last week announced it would field a candidate against Lalu Prasad in Patliputra, which is now set to witness a triangular contest with Bihar's ruling JD-U fielding another former RJD MP, Ranjan Prasad Yadav.

However, the Congres is not fielding anybody against Lalu Prasad in Saran, which will go to polls on April 16.

The Congress has pitted former minister Dasai Choudhary as its candidate against Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan in Hajipur constituency, which will hold elections on April 23.

The Congress decision comes after Lalu Prasad and Paswan joined hands and offered the Congress just three Lok Sabha seats out of 40 in Bihar. Now, the RJD and LJP combine is contesting from all the seats while a miffed Congress is going it alone in the state.

Lalu Prasad and Paswan also have with an alliance with the Samajwadi Party.

Bihar will conduct its elections over four phases - on April 16, 23, 30 and May 7.