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Blow for Bihar Cong as Tejashwi hints at going solo in Council polls
PATNA: Ahead of the Bihar Legislative Council polls, likely to be held between February and March this year, the state Congress suffered a major blow on Sunday after Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav refused to forge an alliance with the Grand Old Party
PATNA: Ahead of the Bihar Legislative Council polls, likely to be held between February and March this year, the state Congress suffered a major blow on Sunday after Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav refused to forge an alliance with the Grand Old Party.
Talking to media persons in New Delhi, Tejashwi said that the RJD has decided to contest the upcoming council polls on its own. “Our party’s alliance with the Congress is only in New Delhi,” said Yadav.
Tejashwi’s statement comes at a time when key leaders of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) including its president Madan Mohan Jha, campaign panel chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh, and Congress legislature party (CLP) leader Ajit Sharma are camping in New Delhi for the last three days to meet RJD chief Lalu Prasad on the issue.
“We have not received any formal rejection from the RJD over seat-sharing. We don’t go by media reports,” said Jha, adding that Congress has also decided to go ahead with its plan to contest all 24 Council seats in the absence of an invitation from the RJD on seat-sharing. “We have submitted the panel of contestants to party in-charge Bhakta Charan Das. The final decision will be taken by the party high command,” Jha added.
Reacting on Tejashwi’s statement, AICC media panelist Prem Chandra Mishra said that Tejashwi must clarify which party RJD is aligned within Bihar, if not the Congress. “By stating that the RJD is with the Congress at the Centre, Yadav is acknowledging the party’s strength. It would have been better to attack the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rather than criticizing the Congress,” said Mishra.
BPCC’s chief spokesman Rajesh Rathore said that the party has prepared a panel of 22-23 strong candidates to contest from 12-13 seats, out of the 24. “We are ready to field capable leaders from seven-eight seats in case there is no seat-sharing deal with the RJD and left parties,” said Rathore.
Meanwhile, the RJD has finalized its nominees for 23 seats to contest the Council elections, leaving the Bhagalpur seat for the CPI. “All the candidates have been asked to start campaigning in their respective local bodies constituencies,” said RJD spokesman Mrityunjay Tiwari.
