Congress exits Grand Alliance in Bihar ahead of Oct 30 bypolls

New Delhi: Just a few days ahead of the bypoll for two assembly seats in Bihar, a key partner of Grand Alliance has announced its exit from the coalition that was formed to put a check on the winning spree of BJP-led NDA alliance in Bihar assembly polls.

The bypoll for Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur assembly seats is scheduled for October 30 and Congress and RJD have fielded their candidates from both seats.

Making an official announcement about the exit from the alliance, Congress in-charge of Bihar Bhakta Charan Das told reporters in Patna that Congress has exited the RJD-led grand alliance in the state and would field candidates on all 40 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

"We are not in Mahaghatbandhan (grand alliance) in Bihar. A decision in this regard was taken after October 16 when RJD fielded a candidate from Kusheshwar Asthan, which is a traditional bastion of the Congress. When RJD is not following the alliance dharma, then there is no use of having such an alliance," Das said.

However, when asked about the possibility of reviewing its stand if the RJD approaches them to continue the alliance, Das said that the high command will take a call on this.

The Congress leader also rejected the claims made by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav that both parties were fighting a friendly contest at the Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur seats.

"There is no friendly fight with RJD and we are contesting this election to win. Why is RJD contesting Kusheshwar Asthan? It is clear that RJD does not want the support of 19 MLAs of Congress and have decided to call off the alliance," Das said.

Recently, Das had a meeting with Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) chief Pappu Yadav, who extended his support to the Congress in the October 30 by-elections.

As per political experts, the split in the alliance was imminent after former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar joined the party as the RJD 'think tank' had expressed its concerns over Kanhaiya's joining.

Notably, Congress nominee Ashok Kumar had lost Kusheshwar Asthan seat to JDU candidate Shashi Bhushan Hazari with a margin of 7,222 votes. The seat got vacant after Hazari passed away in July.