Senior Bihar Congress leader Sadanand Singh on Wednesday asked senior coalition partner- Rashtriya Janata Dal- headed by jailed leader Lalu Prasad, to shed its "arrogance" in the wake of the drubbing it had received in the general elections.
Singh, who is currently the legislature party leader in the state and has headed the Bihar unit of the Congress in the past, made remarks to this effect a day after leaders of the five-party Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) held the first meeting of the coalition since the Lok Sabha polls here.
The meeting was held at the residence of RJD national vice president and former chief minister Rabri Devi where his son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, state unit chief Ram Chandra Purve and veteran leader Jagadanand Singh participated from the party.
The Congress was represented by its national secretary in- charge for Bihar Virendra Rathore and state unit president Madan Mohan Jha, while Upendra Kushwaha, Jitan Ram Manjhi and Mukesh Sahni founders of RLSP HAM and VIP respectively
were also present at the meeting.
The opposition coalition leaders had resolved to fight back by spreading awareness about issues concerning the public through mass movements.
We must acknowledge the fact that only one party is really strong in Bihar, as of now, which is the BJP. We all are much weaker in comparison. It is not proper for any Mahagathbandhan constituent to throw its weight around with claims of superior voter base and greater numerical strength in the assembly, Singh told reporters here.
They (RJD) need to ponder as to why, despite having contested the maximum number of seats for any major party in the state, they drew a blank. Ahankaar (arrogance) is not proper in politics. We (Congress) were the only saving grace as we managed to win one seat in the face of the NDA juggernaut, Singh said.
Notably, the RJD had fielded its candidates in 19 constituencies of the state. In comparison, the BJP contested only 17 and won all of these while Chief Minister Nitish Kumars JD(U) fought as many as the saffron party losing only in Kishanganj which the Congress retained.
The Congress, which wanted to contest at least 15 seats, has been sore over having been pressurised by the RJD to settle for nine leaving five seats for RLSP which crossed over from the NDA a few months ahead of the polls, Jitan Ram Manjhis HAM which has so far never won a Lok Sabha seat and Mukesh Sahnis fledgling VIP.
The Congress has also been upset over the RJDs insistence on contesting the Darbhanga seat, which was held by dissident BJP leader Kirti Azad whom Rahul Gandhi himself inducted apparently with the promise that he would be given a chance to seek re-election from the sitting seat.
An embarrassed Congress had to persuade Azad to enter the fray from Dhanbad in the neighboring Jharkhand. The RJD fielded its veteran leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui, who was defeated by BJP debutant Gopal Jee Thakur by a staggering margin of more than 2.5 lakh votes.
Sadanand Singhs outbursts assume significance in the wake of reports that Mahagathbandhan leaders show of solidarity notwithstanding, Tuesdays discussions had hit a roadblock when a proposal came up for declaring Lalu Prasads younger son Tejashwi Yadav as the Chief Ministerial candidate of the Grand Alliance.
The RJD had declared the young leader as its face more than a year ago but alliance partners seem to be wary of the leadership of the 30-year-old, who had impressed all in the initial days of his career but has been found wanting in commitment of late.
Manjhi had on Tuesday dodged queries as to whether a consensus had been reached with regard to projecting Tejashwi as the Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial candidate.
Meanwhile, Tejashwi Yadavs close aide and MLA- Bhai Virendra- reacted with indignation to the Congress leaders remarks, saying let the elections come. It will become clear to all which party is the strongest in Bihar.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
