Gehlot meets Lalu amidst seat-sharing row, says ‘all issues will be ironed out’

PATNA: With the ongoing tensions between the Congress and the RJD, senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday met RJD president Lalu Prasad, apparently with the mandate to defuse tensions with the ally, which has plunged the INDIA bloc into turmoil in poll-bound Bihar.

Emerging after the meeting, Gehlot said winning Bihar was “extremely important” for the opposition alliance, after having been drubbed in a crucial state like Maharashtra, but evaded a direct reply when asked whether the Congress was ready to declare the RJD supremo’s son and heir apparent, Tejashwi Yadav, as the chief ministerial candidate.