New Delhi: The Congress high command has asked its Bihar unit to draw the communities not aligned with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), indicating focus on the non-Yadavs and Dalits, who are estimated to comprise over 50 percent of the population, ThePrint has learnt.
The leadership has also made it clear that the party will contest the upcoming state polls in an alliance, but it should be respectful in terms of seat distribution. Both the RJD and Congress are part of the opposition INDIA alliance.
A meeting of Bihar Congress leaders was held at the AICC headquarters Tuesday, presided over by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal, Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru, Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram, CLP leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan, and other senior state leaders.
According to Bihar Congress functionaries, the RJD’s core vote bank is Yadavs and Muslims, but these two blocs are not enough to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in power in the state with the Janata Dal (United), or JD(U). Thus, the Congress leadership has asked the Bihar unit to focus more on other communities.
“Rahulji has mentioned that we need to create our own space in Bihar. There are some castes who do not traditionally vote for the RJD, and they can vote for us if we reach out to them. We need to focus on these. In his own way, he also hinted at the reason behind making Rajesh Ram, a Dalit leader, as state chief,” a senior Congress functionary told ThePrint.
The functionary added that at the meeting, Kharge emphasised more on the INDIA bloc by saying that “we need to fight these crucial polls together”.
An MP, who was present at the meeting, said: “Our state chief raised the point that the party should not compromise with its respect as an ally. He mentioned that the RJD does not give equal respect to the Congress in Bihar. Suddenly, Rahulji interrupted and said ‘respect should be earned. If we work hard at creating our space, then other allies will give equal respect’.”
According to the MP, most senior leaders put forth the demand that tickets should be declared at least three months before the polls so that candidates get enough time for preparation. Kharge said the party would try to fulfil this demand.
The Congress president also said the people of Bihar were concerned about their welfare, social justice and progress. Highlighting growing public resentment against unemployment, irregularities in recruitment process and paper leaks, he expressed confidence that the Bihar government would be ousted and a people-friendly government would be formed, the MP added.
ThePrint has also learnt that the top Congress leadership assured that the party’s former Bihar chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh will play a crucial role in alliance talks with the RJD as he shares a good bond with party supremo Lalu Yadav’s family.
Later, while briefing the media, Allavaru reaffirmed that the INDIA bloc partners will work together to defeat the BJP and its allies.
Sources close to him told ThePrint that Allavaru suggested to the high command that the Congress should ask for at least 60-70 seats to contest from the RJD despite its poor performance in the previous election, when it could win only 19 of the 70 seats it had contested in the 243-member assembly.
Allavaru believes this time the party’s performance will improve. He also wants the party to demand the deputy CM’s chair if the RJD proposes Tejashwi Yadav’s name as chief minister.
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Kanhaiya ‘skips’ meeting
Interestingly, Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who has recently got active in Bihar, skipped Tuesday’s meeting. It was said that he was busy leading the ‘Palayan roko, Naukri do’ padyatra in Bihar, but a state leader had a different reason for his absence.
“Kanhaiya knows that a section of senior Congress leaders are avoiding his yatra as they are unhappy with the kind of ‘extra focus’ the party is giving him and his portrayal as a prominent face in the state,” a senior leader told ThePrint.
“So, if Kanhaiya had turned up for the meeting, there was a possibility that these leaders might have raised some questions about his yatra, so he himself skipped it after understanding the situation.”
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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