Patna: Lalu Prasads Rashtriya Janata Dal on Monday ticked off the Congress, its alliance partner in Bihar, for an "open letter" reminding it of a "promise" made to the latter with regard to Rajya Sabha elections.
RJD national spokesman Manoj Jha, said the "open letter" by AICC in-charge for Bihar, Shaktisinh Gohil, was "written with a closed mind" and asserted that the party was looking forward to staking its claim to two seats in Bihar where elections will be held for five Rajya Sabha seats.
The Congress on Sunday had reminded RJD of the "promise" to help the party win a Rajya Sabha berth from the state where it lacks adequate numbers in the assembly to win a seat in the Upper House on its own.
"The promise that he (Gohil) sought to remind us of, was made in a specific context", Jha said referring to the Congress leader reminding Tejashwi Yadav, Prasads heir apparent, of having promised "one seat to Congress from Bihar" in the Rajya Sabha.
Yadav had made the promise at a press conference last year during the Lok Sabha polls in an apparent bid to soothe ruffled feathers in the Congress which had been upset over getting nine out of 40 seats in Bihar as against a demand for 15.
The Congress had also taken exception to the RJDs refusal to give up Darbhanga, much to the embarrassment of Rahul Gandhi who had inducted sitting MP Kirti Azad after he quit the BJP.
"When Tejashwi Yadav made the promise, the RJD was planning to contest 25 seats on its own, in proportion to its strength in Bihar, and accommodate other Grand Alliance partners in the remaining 15. That did not happen and we had to contend with less than 20 for the first time in the partys history", Jha said.
The RJD had contested 19 seats, giving up Arrah from its quota for the CPI(ML) in return for the latter not fielding its candidate in Pataliputra where Prasads daughter Misa Bharti was trying her luck against her fathers former aide and sitting BJP MP Ram Kripal Yadav.
However, the RJD ended up with its worst ever performance and drew a blank while the Congress which won Kishanganj emerged as the sole Grand Alliance constituent to have escaped decimation at the hands of the ruling NDA.
In Bihar, the RJD has close to 80 MLAs and the combined strength of Grand Alliance in excess of 100 can help it wrest at least two of the five seats from the NDA.
RJD sources also point out that the party had helped the Congress in sending
Bihar leader Akhilesh Prasad Singh to the Rajya Sabha in 2018.
Former Union minister Upendra Kushwahas RLSP sought to fish in troubled waters and stated that if the RJD
failed to fulfil its promise to the Congress it would result in disintegration of the Grand Alliance.
Meanwhile, the ruling YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh has allotted one Rajya Sabha seat out of four falling vacant from the state to Parimal Nathwani who is due to retire as RS member from Jharkhand on April 9 as an Independent. The YSRC also on Monday formally announced its three other candidates for as many seats that it could win in the biennial elections on March 26.
Amid infighting in the Madhya Pradesh Congress and allegations of poaching by the BJP, some Congress leaders have demanded that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra be nominated from the state for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls.
The AIADMK named former Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai and another senior leader K P Munusamy as its candidates for the biennial election to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu. The ruling party allotted one seat to ally Tamil Maanila Congress and its chief G K Vaasan will be the candidate.
Filing of nomination
papers for the Rajya Sabha elections comes to a close on
March 13.