Congress for going it alone in Bihar polls

PATNA: Most of the Congress district presidents in Bihar are in favour of going it alone in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections. In their meeting held on Sunday, they felt their alliance with RJD and other parties of the Mahagathbandhan remained broadly superficial in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
It was the first meeting of all 38 district Congress presidents after the general elections in which BJP-led NDA decimated the opposition.Only Congress managed to win a single seat of Muslim-dominated Kishanganj as the NDA grabbed the rest 39 seats in Bihar. “It was observed in the meeting that lack of communication and coordination at the ground level was one of the main reasons for loss of the Mahagathbandhan candidates,” Bihar Congress president Madan Mohan Jha said.
Congress state working president Kaukab Quadri said most district presidents were of the view that Congress should contest the upcoming state assembly elections on its own. “There was confusion among the Mahagathbandhan partners right from the seat-sharing stage. Initially, Congress was supposed to get 11 seats to contest, but finally it came down to nine. Many district presidents claimed that when RJD, HAM(S), RLSP and Vikassheel Insaan Party failed to win their own seats, how could they transfer their votes to Congress candidates. Thus, there was a common opinion that Congress should go it alone in the assembly polls,” Quadri told TOI, adding a report on poll review would be submitted to the party leadership.