Lalu meets Sonia; seeks alliance in J'khand, Bihar

tna September 21, 2009, 0:03 IST

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad today met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and said there was a strong bond between the two parties and like-minded secular forces should come together to keep the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at bay.

“I have a strong bond with Sonia Gandhiji... Whatever may come, I will never abandon her,” said Prasad, whose meeting with Gandhi in New Delhi yesterday fuelled speculation that he met the Congress chief in the wake of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee’s reported plan to seek a CBI inquiry into the alleged job scam during his tenure.

Pitching for a secular alliance in Jharkhand and Bihar, the RJD leader urged Gandhi for bringing like-minded secular parties together to keep the NDA out of power. This was a day after Congress leader from Bihar Shakeel Ahmad said the Congress should keep a distance from Lalu Prasad and his party, as doing so had paid dividends in the Bihar by-elections The Congress won two seats, while the Lok Janshakti Party and RJD won nine out of 18 seats where the by-polls were held.

“I discussed the matter and we are waiting for a positive response,” he said.

Prasad’s meeting with Gandhi came on the heels of the recent visit of members of an AICC committee to Jharkhand to assess the ground situation there and find out with whom the party could align.

In the Lok Sabha polls in Jharkhand, the Congress had entered into an alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, dumping the RJD.

Prasad said: “We have now qualified for the finals (the next Assembly elections, to be held by the end of next year). “We will continue the practice for the final (by reaching the people of the state)... We have a number of issues to raise...To expose the real face of the Nitish Kumar government,” he said.

The RJD leader said he had apologised for the mistake, if any, committed when his party was in power for 15 years in Bihar and said his party had full respect for all upper caste, poor and minorities.

After the Bihar by-election results were out, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had hosted an iftaar party. An elated Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, who was present on the occasion, conveyed a message to Congress President Sonia Gandhi that he was back in the political reckoning after a poor show in the general elections (in the last Lok Sabha, the RJD had 24 MPs. Whereas in the current House, it has four).