Bihar Cong leaders pitch for tie-up in upcoming Assembly elections

At a time when the Congress has revisited its election strategy and decided to go solo for Assembly elections, the voices from Bihar are stressing for an alliance with like-minded parties.

The Congress contested alone in the recent Delhi elections, while the party insiders claim that its leaders in West Bengal also want the party to not forge alliance with any party for the state elections.

However, to prevent Muslim vote from splitting in the state, Bihar Congress leaders on Tuesday conveyed to the party high command that the Congress should focus on making an alliance with like-minded parties and field candidates in a way that would keep the BJP’s chances of winning at bay.

Jamalpur MLA Ajay Kumar Singh and Maharajganj MLA Vijay Shanker Dubey were among the party’s 16 MLAs that converged in New Delhi to meet the party’s top brass, including party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary KC Venugopal. The party leaders from Bihar, including Bihar Congress Legislature Party leader Shakil Ahmad Khan and Muzaffarpur MLA Bijendra Chaudhary.

The party has a total 19 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar Assembly. A party source said two MLAs didn’t come for the meeting, while one of its MLA is ill.

“It is to be understood that in Bihar, we have a lot of Muslim vote. Parties like AIMIM are also in fray. The BJP could use various tactics to divide Muslim votes. Why not to first plug it? This is the foremost thing we are going to put in across to the party high command today,” a Congress leader from Bihar told The Tribune.

In Bihar, the party’s focus is on the consolidation of OBC and Muslim vote, which was evident after the party recently appointed a Dailt community leader Rajesh Kumar as its party chief in the state.

“There is no doubt that we are going to push for coalition with like-minded parties in the upcoming elections. A majority of us are in favour of contesting in an alliance. However, the coalition should be such that it does not bother us or our coalition partner at the last moment. It should be on merit. Identification of strength and merit is going to be the foremost thing,” another top Bihar leader from the Congress told The Tribune.

The leader said, “If a party like the BJP can take four to five parties along in the state, there is no reason why the Congress should also focus on this arrangement to sail through in the state.”

Three Congress MPs from Bihar -- including Katihar MP Tariq Anwar, Sasaram MP Manoj Kumar and Kishanganj MP Mohammad Jawed – and a former MP from state, Ranjeet Ranjan, who is now a Congress MP from Chhattisgarh, also attended the meeting.