Fronting the Congress campaign in the Bihar Assembly elections, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi will address 10 rallies in the State, party sources told The Hindu . His mother and party president, Sonia Gandhi, will attend four to six rallies.
The Congress may contest just 40 seats, as a junior partner to the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), but it has a great deal at stake: a victory for the “grand alliance” — as this partnership has been named — would give the party a handle in the coming months against the ruling BJP, whether in the Winter Session of Parliament or in the subsequent Assembly elections due next year, especially in Kerala and Assam where the party is in power.
Launching his public appearances in Bihar with a rally on September 19 at Champaran, Mr. Gandhi, the sources said, is keen on sharing the stage with RJD chief Lalu Prasad, contrary to earlier reports that had suggested otherwise.
“Regardless of his personal preferences, once the party has taken a decision,” the sources said, “Mr. Gandhi will stick to it.”
Indeed, the subject had gained traction after the Swahbhiman rally in Patna on August 30 that was addressed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Mr. Lalu Prasad and Ms. Gandhi. Officially, the party said that since Ms. Gandhi was there, there was no need for the young vice-president as well; but unofficially, some party members — described now as “more loyal than the king” — had suggested that Mr. Gandhi did not wish to share a platform with Mr. Lalu Prasad.
That had muddied the waters, and now the Congress is at pains to stress that since the party has taken the decision to ally itself with the RJD in its own larger interests, there is no question of shunning Mr. Lalu Prasad. Indeed, Mr. Gandhi spoke to the RJD chief recently on the phone, realising that if the grand alliance was to have a chance in Bihar, a message of unity had to be sent out.
Haryana Congress leader Captain Ajay Yadav, whose son Chiranjeev Rao is married to the RJD supremo’s daughter Anushka, has been asked to help make preparations for the rally and to ensure Mr. Lalu Prasad’s presence at the Champaran public meeting, the sources said. In any case, Mr. Lalu Prasad’s son Tejaswi will attend Mr. Gandhi’s rally, while the Congress is hoping that Mr. Ajay Yadav will persuade the RJD chief to be present at the rally. The Congress is also hoping that Mr. Nitish Kumar will attend the rally.
Initially, the Congress planned the rally in Champaran as part of its year-long celebrations to mark the 125th birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar. This is where Mahatma Gandhi launched his first Satyagraha in 1917 after his return from South Africa, but with the announcement of the Bihar polls, it will be where the Congress vice-president will, in addition, kick off the party’s campaign.
The Congress also needs to appease the Yadavs, the largest voting bloc in Bihar (roughly 15 per cent), and send out the message that all is well between the party and the RJD. This is because Mr. Gandhi had blocked the previous UPA government’s attempt in 2013 to negate a Supreme Court order disqualifying convicted MPs and MLAs by issuing an ordinance that would have protected Mr. Lalu Prasad who had been convicted in the fodder scam in October that year.
