Kharge, Rahul hold meeting with Bihar Congress leaders

PTI, Dec 26, 2023, 5:35 PM IST

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi held a meeting with Bihar Congress leaders here on Tuesday to discuss the strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, including seat sharing.

Party general secretary K C Venugopal, Bihar Congress chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh, newly appointed state in-charge Mohan Prakash, along with leaders like Ranjeet Ranjan and Shakeel Ahmed, were present in the meeting. Around 40 leaders from the state attended the meeting.

Talking to media after the meeting, the Bihar Congress chief said the RJD-JDU-Congress-Left alliance will fight the Lok Sabha polls together, and a final decision on seat sharing will be taken in the meeting of the alliance committee of Congress which is scheduled for December 29. ”We held detailed discussions on the preparations for the Lok Sabha elections. We have made an action plan which will be taken forward. The discussion on seats will be held in the alliance committee meeting on December 29,” he said.

The Congress had fought on nine seats in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Asked how many seats the Congress would fight on, Singh said they will be flexible in seat sharing. ”One or two seats may go here or there…It is not a problem. Last time we fought in alliance with RJD and Left parties, this time JD(U) is also there,” he said. Earlier, in a post on X, Kharge said, ”The Grand Alliance government in Bihar is working firmly as per the expectations of the people of Bihar. We are committed to social justice. For the progress, prosperity and peace of Bihar, every Congress worker is ready to reach out to the people and live up to the aspirations of the people of Bihar.” Finalising seat sharing was at the centre of the recent INDIA bloc meet, after which the Congress formed a National Alliance Committee to oversee it. In 2019, out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, RJD was given 20, Congress got nine, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) fought five, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Hum) and VIP fought three each and CPI-ML got one seat from RJD quota. The Congress had won one seat, while JD(U), which was in alliance with BJP at that time, won 16. The BJP won 17 seats, and the Lok Janshakti Party six. Kharge is also scheduled to meet Congress leaders from Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab later, according to sources.