Congress reaches out to JD(U) leaders to form a four-party anti-BJP alliance in Jharkhand
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- Category: Bihar Political News
- Last Updated: Thursday, 22 January 2015 21:03
Congress reaches out to JD(U) leaders to form a four-party anti-BJP alliance in Jharkhand
NEW DELHI: After the success of the grand alliance against BJP in the recent Bihar by-polls, efforts are on to extend a similar experiment to Jharkhand which goes to polls next month. Congress' central leadership, has reached out to the Janata Dal (United) national leadership for a four-party alliance against BJP in the state. Congress and RJD are already partners in the JMM-led state government.
Congress sources said AICC representative Jairam Ramesh met JD(U) national president Sharad Yadav in Delhi a couple of days back and expressed Congress high command's interest in propping up a "Bihar-like alliance" in Jharkhand. Yadav has been the main force in bringing together arch-rival Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad, along with Congress in Bihar after BJP's spectacular Lok Sabha poll win in the state. The emergence of the grand alliance saw it winning six out of the 10 assembly by-polls in Bihar last month. The BJP had led in all 10 assembly segments in the Lok Sabha elections.
"A couple of senior Congress leaders are in touch with the JD(U) leadership," said a senior Congress source adding, "talks have started for an amicable seat-sharing between RJD, JMM, Congress and JD(U) for Jharkhand assembly elections."
In a recent interview to ET, Sharad Yadav had called for a broader unity among Opposition parties against BJP at the national level and from state to state. AICC too has been maintaining that the party would opt for alliances with like-minded parties wherever feasible.
The Congress, facing tough elections in party-ruled Maharashtra and Haryana, is keen to mobilise all anti-BJP forces in Jharkhand. After, the Congress leadership reached out to Sharad Yadav, the latter visited RJD chief Lalu Prasad in Mumbai on Monday. The RJD supremo is in a Mumbai hospital, where he underwent a heart surgery. In the last assembly election in Jharkhand, BJP and JMM emerged as top parties, with each winning 18 seats each.