Congress, RJD, NCP seal Lok Sabha poll alliance in Bihar

The much-awaited alliance of the Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Nationalist Congress Party in Bihar for the Lok Sabha polls was formally announced in Patna on Wednesday night.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad, at a joint press conference with state Congress unit president Ashok Choudhary, announced that the alliance has been finalised.

With 27 constituencies in its kitty, the RJD gets the lion’s share of the seats, while the Congress will contest 12 seats and the NCP will contest from only one seat.

"We have decided to contest together as an alliance to defeat the communal forces in polls," said Lalu.

Communal forces presented the biggest threat before the people and the country, claimed the RJD chief, adding, “If they are not defeated, they will divide the country for the sake of power-politics."

“Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's dream to become the prime minister of India will never be fulfilled," Lalu said.

Lalu said that his party will declare the list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls within two days.

Lalu Prasad had earlier said that he would offer only 11 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar to the Congress.

The RJD chief, however, seems to have relented from the tough stand since then.

Lalu, who was convicted in connection to the fodder scam, was released from prison on bail in December.

Lalu, who had ended his alliance with the Congress in 2009, has vowed not to make the same mistake again.

In the 2004, the Congress-RJD-LJP combine had won 29 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. But when the three political parties decided to go their separate ways in the 2009 Parliamentary polls, they performed dismally.

The RJD could win only four seats, the Congress got two seats and the LJP could not win even a single seat. 

Image: Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad