Lalu: RJD-LJP can dislodge Nitish

15 Aug 2009,ET Bureau


NEW DELHI: After the Samajwadi Party, it was the turn of RJD leader Lalu Prasad to target the Congress. Angry with the Congress efforts to ‘sideline’ its allies, RJD chief said the grand old party should stop nurturing the belief that it has the wherewithal to take on NDA in Bihar.

“A section of Congress leaders do not value our support. It is reflected in their arrogance. We are not a spent force and my party’s alliance with the LJP is formidable enough to dislodge the Nitish Kumar government,” reports from Gaya quoting Mr Yadav said.

Last week, the Congress had ruled out reviving its alliance with regional outfits in Bihar. “There will be no alliances in the future in Bihar. The party is going to fight elections on its own strength,” the AICC leader in-charge of party affairs in Bihar, Mr Jagdish Tytler had said. In an interaction with the media, Mr Tytler had said that the association with RJD had adversely affected Congress growth. “Previously there was hardly a family in Bihar which did not have members who were Congress supporters. We are going to reclaim the lost ground,” he had said.

Congress leaders seem to believe that contesting solo would bring it major electoral dividends. Although there are still no tangible signs of dominant caste groupings leaving the fold of established political players, Congress is hoping to wean Muslims away from the RJD camp, and the upper castes from JD(U)-BJP combine.

In the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year, Brahmins, angry with the JD(U)’s refusal to give a ticket to any member of the community, expressed their disaffection by staying aloof from the party. In a few other constituencies, sections of other upper castes such as Bhumihars and Rajputs too voted for candidates of their choice.

But as the verdict of the Lok Sabha polls showed, Mr Nitish Kumar continues to enjoy the respect of the great majority of the people, who have endorsed the developmental initiatives undertaken by his government in the last three years and nine months that it has stayed in power. Mr Kumar’s personal ratings continues to be high, and is held in esteem by the Muslims too.

Moreover, the combine has consolidated its support base during this period by expanding their reach to include the EBCs and the poorer among the Dalits, or Mahadalits.

Congress, on the contrary, faces a bigger challenge. In the Lok Sabha polls, it could not even find suitable candidates in many constituencies, and had to rely on discards on other parties to keep itself afloat. Besides, a faces a severe leadership crunch.