Bihar Assembly Elections 2025: BJP takes a dig at Congress for CWC meet in Patna, questions 'newfound concern' for state

Congress’ renewed focus on the State is driven purely by political calculations, says Ravi Shankar Prasad

New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday took a swipe at the Congress for holding its working committee meeting in Patna after a gap of 85 years, questioning the party’s “newfound concern” for Bihar.

Addressing a press briefing in New Delhi, senior BJP leader and Patna Sahib MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Congress’ renewed focus on the State was driven purely by political calculations.

“Why has the Congress suddenly ‘remembered’ Patna today … 85 years after its CWC was last convened here? Is it not driven by political gains?” Prasad questioned.

He alleged that the meeting was held since the Congress did not want to give up too many seats to the Tejashwi Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal. “Their CWC meeting in Patna is purely motivated. The Congress feels that they can take the driving seat and demand more seats (from the RJD) to contest the Assembly polls in Bihar,” Prasad said. He said the Congress was reluctant to name Tejashwi the coalition’s chief ministerial candidate.

Prasad also said that the Congress must tell voters why it did not raise its voice during the RJD's rule when allegations of abduction, corruption, and scams were rampant, and caste-based incidents were at their peak.

Prasad claimed that in Patna, despite the history of the country’s first President Rajendra Prasad’s struggle, the party overlooked his contributions and gave him a small house after his term was over. “The Congress' office in Patna, Sadaqat Ashram, was a centre of India’s freedom movement. Rajendra Prasad was the country’s first President, and he lived at Sadaqat Ashram. When I became an MP and visited there, I had tears in my eyes. There were just two rooms, a small courtyard and a single toilet,” he said.

"Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru did not want him to become the first President," he alleged.

“Prime Minister Nehru did not want to give him a second term as President. Jayaprakash Narayan was arrested, but did you (Congress) care about Bihar then? They did not allow Jagjivan Ram to become India's Prime Minister,” Prasad said.

The Congress Working Committee held its meeting at Sadaqat Ashram on Wednesday ahead of the Assembly elections in Bihar later this year, with party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and senior leaders such as K C Venugopal and Pawan Khera being part of the meeting.