Tejashwi Yadav: Grand Alliance in Bihar united, strong

Tejashwi Yadav

Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday said that the opposition Grand Alliance in Bihar was united and strong and will soon announce its decision on seat sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

"We will smoothly decide the seat sharing and will soon make it public," he told the media at the Sadaqat Ashram state Congress headquarters here, after attending a traditional 'Makar Sankranti' feast.

Besides the RJD, the other Grand Alliance members include the Congress, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, Hindustani Awam Morcha, and the Vikasshil Insaan Party.

Tejashwi Yadav said that his party's alliance with the Congress was intact and he has a cordial relationship with party President Rahul Gandhi.

He described his meeting a day earlier with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow as merely a courtesy call and not a political meeting.

This year the annual 'Makar Sankranti' feast was not held at RJD chief Lalu Prasad's residence as he was not granted bail in the fodder scam case and was undergoing treatment at a Ranchi hospital.

Tejashwi Yadav said the Grand Alliance's sole aim was to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party-led led NDA government in the upcoming polls.

"We want a Grand Alliance at the national level with big and small parties to ensure defeat of the BJP," he said.

The RJD leader also backed former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who was charge-sheeted by the Delhi Police in a sedition case, saying whoever spoke against the BJP is bound to face similar action in the country.

Meanwhile, the President of the ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) Vashisht Narain Singh on Tuesday said that several leaders of like-minded parties were in touch who were likely to join the party before the polls.

"Several leaders of like-minded parties are in touch with the JD-U, they would join us... Some new political development will soon take place in Bihar," Singh told the media.

Singh has downplayed the Grand Alliance, saying it was a divided house and was no match to the NDA in the state comprising the JD-U, BJP and the Lok Janshakti Party.

He said the NDA will win all 40 seats in Bihar.

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