The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Sunday charged the Congress with “lack of seriousness” in posing a credible challenge to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), citing its failure to get its act together in Punjab, which it rules, and the party’s insistence on punching above its weight in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
RJD national vice president Shivanand Tiwary, a key aide of party supremo Lalu Prasad, also blamed the junior ally for his party’s inability to form a government in Bihar despite winning the maximum number of seats in the 2020 Assembly elections.
Complete absence
Mr. Tiwary said the Congress initially wanted to contest 100 seats of the 243-strong Assembly, but settled for 70, “a number, we were given to understand, [which] was approved by Sonia Gandhi herself”.
He alleged that the Congress’ campaign, however, left much to be desired, pointing out Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s “complete absence” and Rahul Gandhi taking time off for “not more than half a dozen rallies” in the standalone elections.
Notably, the Congress finished with a tally of less than 20 seats, clocking the worst strike rate among constituents of the ‘Grand Alliance’ which is helmed by the RJD, and includes the CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(ML).
