Amid strain in Cong-RJD ties, Lalu says held talks with Sonia

Before leaving for Patna to campaign for the October 30 by-elections in Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur, Prasad said: “Sonia Gandhi enquired about my well-being. I told her I am fine.”

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad on Wednesday said he had a telephonic conversation with Congress president Sonia Gandhi to discuss Opposition unity.

Congress and the RJD are contesting by-polls to two assembly seats in Bihar on October 30 separately. (HT Photo/File/Representative use)

Before leaving for Patna to campaign for the October 30 by-elections in Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur, Prasad said: “Sonia Gandhi enquired about my well-being. I told her I am fine.”

“I also said that she is the leader of a party with an all-India presence and she should convene a meeting of all like-minded parties which are opposed to the BJP,” the RJD chief added.

The alliance between the Congress and RJD in Bihar took a hit after the latter unilaterally decided to contest by-polls to both the seats.

The Congress had expressed “shock” at the RJD’s decision to field a candidate from Kusheshwarsthan seat, which it claimed was allocated to them as part of the Grand Alliance deal among opposition parties during the 2020 assembly elections.

After the RJD listed its candidates for bypolls to both Kusheshwarsthan and Tarapur assembly constituencies, the Congress also decided to field its nominees for both the seats.

Dismissing Prasad’s claims, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in charge of Bihar, Bhaka Charan Das, said no discussion was held between his the Congress chief and her RJD counterpart.

“This is baseless talk and is intended to create confusion among the masses at the peak of electioneering. There is no alliance between the Congress and the RJD in the by-elections and the party would contest all 40 seats in the next Lok Sabha elections on its own,” he said.