09 January,2025 06:26 PM IST | Patna | mid-day online correspondent
Tejashwi Yadav
Bihar Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh defended RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday, after his reported comment that the INDIA alliance was "only for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls" sparked a political storm, PTI reported.
Singh said that the remark was made in reference to the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, where the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, both INDIA bloc partners, will compete independently.
"Tejashwi Yadav spoke about assembly polls in Delhi where we had contested the Lok Sabha polls together, but are now fighting separately. It is nothing unusual. Even in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress and AAP contested separately in Punjab, which is another state ruled by that party (AAP)," the former Union minister said, PTI cited.
The Rajya Sabha MP added "there need not be misgivings about our alliance in Bihar, where the Congress and RJD have been together for long".
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Yadav recently told PTI reporters in Buxar area that it was not unusual for the Congress and AAP to campaign separately in Delhi, where they had come together "only for the Lok Sabha elections."
He also stated that the RJD has not yet decided whether it will contest the Delhi assembly elections in alliance with the Congress, but in Bihar, where elections are scheduled for later this year, the situation is clear because "we have been together for a long time."
INDIA alliance partners, including Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, have responded to Yadav's statement, recommending that the coalition be disbanded if allies believe it is no longer needed following the Lok Sabha elections, PTI reported.
Singh also revealed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi planned to visit Bihar later this month.
He stated, "The tour is proposed for January 18." Tomorrow, a meeting is arranged in Delhi. We will finalise the schedule later."
When asked about RJD president Lalu Prasad's recent statement that "doors were still open" for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Singh responded that "doors must always be kept open in politics." Furthermore, the president of the JD(U) comes from a socialist background, thus we have similar ideologies, PTI reported.
(With PTI inputs)
