Despite Rahul Gandhi’s unease in dealing with Lalu Prasad, Congress leaders believe that the RJD is a more dependable ally than JD(U) in its ideological fight against the BJP.
Even as RJD chief Lalu and his family members are battling graft allegations, the Congress – a constituent in the Bihar government – is confident Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will not snap ties with the RJD and sacrifice the grand alliance that had stopped the Narendra Modi juggernaut in 2015.
Keen to replicate the grand alliance experiment at the national level, Congress leaders believe that the RJD supremo will do the heavy lifting in getting on board arch rivals SP-BSP, which is crucial for the Opposition to stop the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, which sends the most members – 80 – to the Lok Sabha. The BJP and its allies won 73 seats in 2014.
Following CBI and ED raids on Lalu, the grand alliance in Bihar appeared to be on a shaky wicket as Nitish put ally RJD on notice to come clean on the charges. Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav, who is facing allegations of corruption, is the deputy chief minister of Bihar.
Congress leaders said the stand taken by Nitish was “merely posturing” to project to the electorate that he was different from his allies.
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