Bihar: RJD blames Congress for poll rout, dares to part ways

The RJD’s remark comes a couple of days after Bihar Congress leaders attributed the lack of cooperation from the RJD as a major factor for their humiliating defeat in the assembly polls

PATNA: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Bihar state chief Mangani Lal Mandal on Saturday blamed the Congress for the crushing defeat of the Managathbandnan in the assembly elections and said his party would welcome it if the Congress quit the alliance and chose to contest future elections separately.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. (Santosh Kumar/ Hindustan Times)

He was talking to media persons after the RJD’s post-poll review meeting at the state party office in Patnaon Saturday.

His remark comes a couple of days after the state Congress leaders attributed the lack of cooperation from the RJD in the assembly elections as a major factor for the humiliating defeat of their candidates.

“Our party (RJD) workers were never in favour of the Mahagathbandhan from the very beginning. Still, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav showed a very big heart and generously gave Congress 61 seats. But the Congress became stubborn and fielded candidates against our official nominees at several places and split the votes,” said Mandal.

He claimed that whatever seats the Congress got is because of the RJD’s support. “Without the RJD, Congress’s performance would have been even worse. Even in 2020, they got 19 seats only because of the RJD,” said Mandal, adding that it would be “very good” if the Congress party wished to contest elections separately. “We will welcome it. Once they fight alone, their real strength will come out in the open. No one can keep anyone tied by force,” he said.

The RJD review meeting was attended by the party’s MLAs, MLCs and the candidates, who unsuccessfully fought the last elections. The meetinh, which started on Wednesday, will continue till December 4.

Mandal also said that the conduct of the elections was not fair. “The BJP openly played the money game and the Election Commission of India (ECI) remained silent. Still, we got more than one crore votes – morally, we are the winners,” he said.

The Congress leaders reacted sharply to Mandal’s statements.
State Congress spokesperson Asit Nath Tiwari wondered why the RJD tied up with the Congress, if it had no strength, “The one who begged for seats is now blaming us,” said Tiwari. Another Congress leader Gyan Rajnan alleged that the RJD deliberately wanted to sever the tie with the Congress and asked Mandal to pilot the campaign against the grand old party, which made many sacrifices to keep the Managathbandhan.

A senior RJD leader said that a final report, based on the district-wise review meetings, will be prepared and sent to the party’s senior leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav to chart out the next course of action to strengthen the organisation. During the meetings, some of the leaders also apprehended internal sabotage, weak booth management and flawed electoral strategy of the Mahagathbandhan as other factors for the defeat.

The RJD had fielded its candidates on 143 seats and won 25, whereas the Congress managed to wrest only six out of 61 it had contested in the last assembly elections. The Left parties had together contested 33 seats and won just three, while the Mukesh Sahni-led VIP was allotted 12 seats, but won nil.