New Delhi: If the alliance between Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Janata Dal (United) does not materialise before the Bihar Assembly elections, the Congress could go to elections with latter as its ally.
The Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi prefers JD(U) as its ally over RJD and in case of seat sharing negotiations between two socialist party fails, he would prefer to contest elections in unison with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party.
The reports suggest that Rahul Gandhi and Nitish Kumar will meet soon to explore the possibilities of an alliance.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav wants Congress to support him in negotiations with Nitish for seats, but it is highly unlikely that the party would go for it. The Congress feels that Lalu had his way in forcing them to accept an unfair share of seats in 2004, 2009 and 2014.
As per the Lok Sabha polls last year, the vote shares of the RJD and the JD (U) add up to 36%, more than the BJP's 29.40%. Congress' 8.40% and JD(U)'s 15.80% add up to above 24% of total votes in the state.
Nitish, who is riding on the performance of his government, feels that collaboration with Lalu could undermine his selling point. Lalu is blamed for collapsed governance under his watch for 14 years until he was defeated in 2004, jointly by JD(U) and BJP.
Congress is weighing all options before taking a final call. “We have to also see what is the deal between JD (U) and the RJD if there is one,” said C. P. Joshi, AICC General Secretary in charge of Bihar.
