Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi on December 26 held a meeting with party leaders from Bihar at the headquarters in New Delhi to discuss the strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
Soon after the meeting, Mr. Kharge wrote on X, saying, “There was a discussion with the leaders of the state of Bihar regarding the preparation related to the Lok Sabha election. The Grand Alliance government in Bihar worked strongly as per the expectations of the people of Bihar. We are committed to social justice. For the progress, prosperity and peace of Bihar, every Congress worker is ready to reach out to the people with full hard work and live up to the aspiration of the people of Bihar.”
Apart from Mr. Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal, Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Akhilesh Prasad Singh, newly appointed Bihar in-charge Mohan Prakash, senior Congress leaders Meira Kumar and Nikhil Kumar, and Congress general secretary Chandan Yadav were present in the meeting that lasted for nearly two and half hours from 1:30 PM to 4 PM.
While speaking to The Hindu over the phone from New Delhi, Bihar Congress chief Mr. Singh said, “It was a fruitful meeting chaired by Kharge ji, Rahul ji and Venugopal ji. Many leaders of Bihar were also present in the meeting and they all got the opportunity to speak in front of our leadership. Discussion took place over the strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. It was decided that the alliance committee will take a call on the seat sharing and this meeting will take place on 29th December.”
Congress has recently formed the National Alliance Committee (NAC), comprising five senior leaders, to negotiate with INDIA block allies for seat sharing for the 2024 polls. Members of the NAC included former Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel, former Union Minister Salman Khurshid and veteran party leader Mohan Prakash.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 39 out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the State. The BJP had won 17 while coalition partners Janata Dal-(United) won 16 seats and then Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) won six seats. Congress managed to secure only Kishanganj.
Asked about the number of seats the Congress is planning to contest in Bihar, Mr. Singh said, “Last Lok Sabha polls, we had contested on 9 seats and this time, parties have to be flexible for one or two seats. However, the final decision would be taken by the NAC.”
Mr. Singh also did not say anything when asked about getting the Lok Sabha seat from the quota of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) or any other alliance partner in Bihar. He, however, stressed that as alliance partners have increased, others should also be flexible.
“Every party has to be flexible to make this alliance go smoothly. Rahul Gandhi has instructed us to make the booth and committee stronger at grassroots level. He also said that we have to give a befitting reply to BJP if Congress wants to win the election. He also said that like BJP, the Congress should make the preparation based on the party, not based on the candidate. Party should be given the top priority rather than the candidate,” he recounted.
