Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with LoP in the Lok Sabha and party leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav during a meeting, in New Delhi, on April 15, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Tuesday (April 15, 2025) met the Congress leadership in New Delhi ahead of the Mahagathbandhan partners’ scheduled gathering in Patna on April 17 to discuss seat-sharing formula for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
Also read | Will fight Bihar polls as INDIA bloc, to have ‘collective’ decision on CM face, Congress says
Answering a question on chief ministerial candidate of Mahagatbandhan, Mr. Yadav told the reporters, “don’t be in a hurry to speculate.” He further indicated that this was just a preliminary conversation.
The RJD-Congress meeting took place at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence.
Meanwhile, RJD MP Manoj Jha had described the Delhi meeting as a “formal one”.
With the Bihar Assembly elections expected to occur in roughly six months, all the political parties have ramped up preparations. RJD, known as Congress’s “oldest ally” in Bihar, is also part of the INDIA bloc.
Congress’ growing focus on Bihar is evident from the increased frequency of it’s leaders’ visit to the State with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s recent ‘Save Constitution Conference’ in Patna. On April 20, Mr. Kharge is also expected to address a public rally in Bihar’s Buxar district.
Notably, Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar has raised the issue of migration in Bihar, taking out the ‘Naukri do’ rally to urge the State government to stop migration and facilitate job creation for the youth. On April 7, Rahul Gandhi joined Mr. Kumar in Begusarai for the yatra.
On the other side, while sounding the poll bugle for the party in Bihar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah slammed former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad for “jungle raj” and corruption between 1990-2005. Since his meeting on March 30, Mr. Shah is also going to spend two days a month in Bihar to prepare for the polls.
A high-stakes battle is expected to take place in Bihar, with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA); consisting of Janata Dal (United) led by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, and the Bharatiya Janata Party fighting against the alliance consisting of Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and left parties.
(With inputs from ANI)
Published – April 15, 2025 01:03 pm IST
