Have exited Bihar grand alliance, says Cong; RJD hits back with a reality check

Bihar grand alliance: Senior Congress and RJD leaders lately had stopped even attempting to paper over cracks in the alliance and indicated that the Congress-RJD deal appeared to have run its course.

PATNA: Barely a week before the by-polls and amidst the ongoing tussle between the Congress and the RJD, a senior Congress leader on Friday announced that the party has exited the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led grand alliance in the state and wants field candidates on all 40 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Congress leader Bhakta Charan Das’ statement on exiting Bihar’s grand alliance comes days after RJD leaders spoke of contesting all the seats in Bihar in the 2024 general elections (PTI)

“We are not in Mahaghatbandhan (grand alliance) in Bihar. A decision to this effect was taken after October 16 after what happened at Kusheshwarsthan which was snatched from us. What is the use of having such an alliance? The thought procedures of the two parties are not in sync,” Congress in-charge for Bihar Bhakta Charan Das told reporters after landing in Patna on Friday.

Das added that Congress wants to contest all the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar in 2024 on its own.

Asked if the Congress could review its stance if the RJD approach them to continue the alliance, Das said, “The high command will take a call on this.”

Das’ sharp comments come a few days after RJD leaders such as Mritunjay Tiwary also indicated that the RJD will contest all seats on its own.

Das has met Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) leader Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav and solicited his party’s support.

Pappu Yadav , the national president of the Jan Adhikar Party (JAP), responded promptly, announcing at a Press conference that his party will support the Congress in the October 30 by-elections. He said the Congress in Bihar is fighting the battle to save Bihar and the battle for farmers and labourers. “For this reason, to save Bihar, it has been decided to support the Congress party in the upcoming by-election,” he said.

The discord in the grand alliance came to the fore recently when the Congress sought to field its candidate for the Kusheshwarsthan bypoll - it was given this seat as part of the seat-sharing pact for the 2020 assembly elections and lost. But the RJD went ahead to field its candidates from the two seats, Kusheshwarsthan and Tarapur. Upset, the Congress also fielded its candidates from both the seats. The Left parties, which are part of the grand alliance in Bihar, are supporting the RJD nominees from both, Kusheshwarstahn and Tarapur.

“We are fighting for self-respect and cannot go on being dictated by others,” said Congress state spokesperson Anand Madhab.

The RJD has reacted strongly to Congress leader Bhakta Charan Das swipe.

“Entire Bihar knows that we followed the coalition dharma and how Lalu Prasad sacrificed posts for alliance partners,” said RJD state president Jagdanand Singh.

Party spokesperson Mirtunjay Tiwary blamed Congress leaders “for this state of affairs”. “The Congress leaders do not know the ground reality in Bihar. And it is because of leaders such as Das that the Congress has reached such a sorry state,” said Tiwary.

The ruling BJP took a dig at the Congress and called it “a momentary threat”. “They are hurt. It is momentary but they have been humiliated by a regional party,” said BJP spokesperson Dhanjay Giri.