New Delhi: The decade-old alliance between the Congress and the RJD—that was stitched during the time when Sonia Gandhi and Lalu Prasad Yadav were at the helm of their respective parties—was broken on Friday. This was conveyed to the media by Congress state in-charge, Bhakta Charan Das, who was appointed to the said post in January this year. Das, hours after announcing the breaking of the alliance, spoke to The Sunday Guardian over phone from Patna. Edited excerpts:
Q: Why did the alliance break today?
A: The alliance broke a long time ago. It was broken when the RJD decided to contest the upcoming byelections, and their candidate filed their nomination from our traditional seat of Kusheshwar Asthan (Darbhanga).
Q: So will this breakup also apply for the 2024 general elections?
A: Congress will stand on its own feet and it will contest all the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state on its own.
Q: What was the sudden reason for ending this decades-old relationship?
A: Just because it is an old alliance does not mean that they (RJD) can take away our seat. Kusheshwar Asthan is our seat, we have contested from there five times. We have 19 MLAs in Bihar, the RJD did not even respect them; even they were not consulted before the RJD announced its decision to contest from Kusheshwar Asthan. It was the RJD’s duty to ensure that our MLA should win from Kusheshwar Asthan. They make our MLAs win, we make their MLAs win, our voters vote for the RJD candidates. However, the RJD did not respect this arrangement.
Q: Was there a lack of coordination between the leaders of the two parties?
A: It will not be correct to say this happened because of lack of coordination. Maybe, they have a different political objective now, maybe they now want to move away from the ideology and thinking due to which this alliance was formed. They behaved as if they did not need the support of our 19 MLAs. Why did they do this?
Q: Whom will you hold responsible for this development? Lalu Prasad Yadav or Tejashwi Yadav?
A: No, I won’t put the blame on anyone. My only question is that why are they doing something which is against the principle on which the alliance was formed? Are they planning to join any other alliance?
Q: Is the Congress capable enough in Bihar to contest and win all the 40 seats?
A: The Congress is strong and capable in Bihar and it will continue to remain so.